Umpiring

“I DON’T THINK WE’VE MET BEFORE, BUT I AM THE REFEREE” NIGEL OWENS

“A GOOD REFEREE CAN’T MAKE A BAD GAME GOOD. BUT A BAD REFEREE CAN MAKE A GOOD GAME BAD” NIGEL OWENS

“THE OBJECTIVE OF A REFEREE IS NOT TO GET MENTIONED. I TELL A LOT OF YOUNG REFEREES THAT NOT BEING MENTIONED IS KING. IF YOU CAN ACHIEVE THAT, THEN IT HAS BEEN A PRETTY GOOD GAME” ALAN LEWIS

“IF YOU’RE GOOD ENOUGH, THE REFEREE DOESN’T MATTER” JOCK STEIN

“I JUST GET ON WITH MY GAME AND LET THE REFEREES DO THEIR JOB” LIONEL MESSI

“GOOD LUCK UMPIRE” FROM A PLAYER, UMPIRES REPLIES “IT’S THEM THAT NEEDS THE LUCK” WELL KNOWN LEGENDARY LOCAL UMPIRE

Umpiring is great fun and highly rewarding. It requires you to apply the rules in a common sense way to what happens on the pitch in front of you. You have to think quickly and be able to explain your decisions clearly to players. If you know the rules then you will almost certainly become a better player. It is possible that you could end up umpiring at a far higher standard then you could ever hope to play at. It is a way of staying involved with the game after you decide to stop playing. There will always be things to be learned about the game and its rules.

We know that it is not for everyone, and we do not want to force people to umpire who do not want to. We think there are people connected to the club however who are interested in umpiring and are prepared to give it a go.

If you are one of them then it has never been easier to start. England Hockey are running twice weekly online 2 hour courses through Zoom to complete the Umpire L1 course. The club will reimburse you the course fee once you have finished the course. Click here to find out more.

If you are interested in becoming an umpire then please email the club’s umpire developer Dave Hughes (dhughes_nl@yahoo.com).

“THIS IS NOT SOCCER” NIGEL OWENS