Umpire Development

The development team are working on lots of new initiatives to help umpires with their skills. In addition to the usual development activities such as match support and the Monday Mixer  sessions, there are three exciting new projects underway:

Guidance for pre and post-match chats. Simon Watkins (with the help of Steve Godwin and Ginette Tessier) has been developing a set of ‘prompts’ for umpires and developers alike to move discussions about umpiring into more of a ‘thinking’ mode. Early tests on matches at different levels have gone well and we hope to be able to roll out this guidance (along with clarity over assessment criteria) in November. There will be lots of information made available for umpires to understand how the guides can help them.

Short-sided ‘training’ games. Steve Godwin has been working with Havant HC to provide umpire support for training games, which benefits the umpires by providing opportunities to speed up their decision-making skills. These have been very beneficial and we would love for other clubs (especially in the North of South Central) to see if they are able to provide a similar setup. Rowena Shepherd (Club Liaison Lead) has sent out some communications to clubs about this, so if you’re interested, please get in touch!

Talent Academy opportunities. Steve Godwin and Simon Watkins have provided development support for umpires invited to attend the first talent academy games for juniors at HMS Temeraire. We are hoping this collaboration will also provide opportunities for junior players to learn more about umpiring and the important role it plays in our sport.

If you have any suggestions or requests for umpire development support at your club, please get in touch!

Leaddeveloper.officiating@southcentral.hockey