Field Umpire Emma Stark during the AFLW Round 1 match between Essendon and Hawthorn at Marvel Stadium, August 27, 2022. Picture: AFL Photos

EMMA Stark made her elite field umpiring debut at just 16 years old in Essendon and Hawthorn's first NAB AFLW game at Marvel Stadium, but Friday will mark the first time she umpires an AFLW game on her own home deck of TIO Stadium in Darwin.

Now 19, Stark has put away her own playing aspirations – having captained the Allies in a game at last year's Marsh National Championships – and is focusing on umpiring at the highest level, keen to one day make a splash in the AFL, too.

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"I started umpiring when I was 13 and I started here at TIO, so it's been six years of football umpiring, but I was doing netball umpiring before that. I guess that helped me build a foundation of confidence and communication skills," Stark said.

"[My debut was] the best day of my life, 100 per cent. I was 16. I was definitely in shock, but to know that I was running around with my mates, I definitely felt pretty calm and ready and just overall excited. 

"Having a football background, it 100% helps you as well. You understand the game more and you can anticipate maybe where players are going to kick the ball to or if they'll have cheeky acts of play. You're aware of that because I was once a player as well, so you have that player mindset when you're umpiring."

Emma Stark during the NAB League Girls Rd 10 match between Murray Bushrangers and Northern Territory at Highgate Reserve, March 27, 2022. Picture: AFL Photos

Stark believes she's umpired around 15-20 AFLW games, with that pesky little thing called school – as well as her playing commitments – getting in the way over the past few years.

She isn't the only homegrown umpire officiating on Friday night, with boundary umpire Cooper Ranie and goal umpire Isabelle Rawsthorne having also cut their teeth in the NTFL.

"It feels very nostalgic being back here, for sure. For us to have a discipline of each field, boundary and goal, being back here is definitely very special," she said.

"It's the first time we get to umpire in front of all of our family and friends. It's very special.

"We have the opportunity to have a different perspective, we have the best seat in the house. Being able to run around with your mates, you get paid to be fit, and it gives you critical life characteristics like confidence and communication."

Stark has been based in Melbourne since last year, taking some time to adjust to the hustle and bustle of the bigger city, living on campus as she studies nutrition.

Outside of the AFLW season, she has been umpiring in the Coates Talent League (girls and boys) and the under-18 national championships, as well as developing her craft.

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"We umpire the game, then after that we'll watch our game back the next day, so I probably spend about three hours annotating the game that I've just umpired," Stark said.

"Yes, I'll look at free kicks, but I'll also look at my positioning, my communication – have I said what I wanted to say correctly? And teamwork as well. So, you know, we look at all aspects of the game.

"In AFLW, we'd run 10-11km a game, and in the men's, they probably cover 13km, because they have four umpires. In Melbourne, with the Victorian umpires, we'd have two trainings on site, and I'd do a bit more running outside of that."