DAN’S DIARY

The Journal of the Northumberland & Durham Hockey Umpires’ Association

Volume 29 No.4: Summer 2016

INSIDE THIS EDITION………………

Umpire Education

The Hockey Hub

Level One Assessments

Are your umpires registered?

plus, News & Views from the world of hockey

EDITORIAL

The summer was somewhat overshadowed by the death of Rob Allchin on 5 July. The attendance at his funeral was testimony to the respect people from all over the region had for him, as a player, administrator and umpire. The next edition of Dan’s Diary will carry a full tribute to Rob, but the thoughts of all will be with his family and friends, and Sunderland Hockey Club, where Rob’s contribution over time was immense.

There was a time when hockey finished at Easter and was forgotten about until the following September as everyone went on holiday or played cricket, or both. The summer break seems though to be a thing of the past with a range of AGMs and Summer Meetings, interspersed with various tournaments and competitions at local and international level, including of course the Rio Olympics.

What clubs and other organisations do during off the field during the summer could well dictate how successful they are next season as plans are put in place. Following the departure of Richard Glynne-Jones to a post at the Football Association, EH appointed Stephen Tabb to replace him as Workforce Training and Development Manager. David Elworthy has been in post as Officiating Officer since December and was responsible for another very successful National HUA Conference at Warwick in June. The Hockey Hub was launched on 13 May and further information is elsewhere in this edition of Dan’s Diary.

Two people missing from Rio 2016 will be Andy Halliday, the GB Men’s manager and Hamish Jamson, the British world panel umpire. Following advice, it was decided that Andy would not travel to Rio due to his previous job, although he only had a ‘peripheral’ role in the incident highlighted in the media. Hamish was due to go to Rio but has withdrawn to concentrate on his training as a commercial pilot in New Zealand. His flying schedule does not give him sufficient time to prepare properly for the Olympic Games, and full preparation is what you need to umpire at the highest level.

This edition provides information for Umpiring Development Officers regarding the registration of umpires and gives details of the insurance cover which registered umpires have. There are details of the pre-season meeting and as all umpires are registered with NDHUA, there is a reminder of the Code of Conduct which umpires should follow.

In response to a large number of enquiries, details of those responsible for umpire development in the region have been included, in particular the list of Level One assessors. A further Level One course was held in Northumberland in July. The response locally was somewhat disappointing, with the course only being viable because of participants coming from outside the region. With the conversion rate from ‘unassessed’ to ‘assessed’ standing nationally at just over 11%, and the fact that it remains static does raise the question of whether there are enough umpires coming in to replace those who, for whatever reason, hang up the whistle, notwithstanding the fact that the demands for assessed umpires seems to be ever increasing.

It would be fair to say that Peter has not been overwhelmed with suggestions to celebrate the Association’s 60th anniversary. It is proposed though to hold two events during the forthcoming season, one at the start and one at the end of the season. The next edition of Dan’s Diary will (hopefully) carry more details but the first event planned is a buffet lunch just outside Durham City on Sunday 16 October 2016 at 11.45.a.m, followed by the opportunity, should people wish, to watch the Men’s National League game at Maiden Castle between Durham University & Bowdon (14.00). Further details to follow but please save the date in your diary.

Dan’s Diary is the journal of the Northumberland & Durham Hockey Umpires’ Association and appears at least four times per season. It is widely distributed to Clubs, Umpires and others with an interest in hockey. Contributions are welcomed and should be emailed to anhockey@sky.com. The deadline for the next edition is Friday 26 August 2016.

In addition to articles, we would welcome hockey photographs for inclusion, with appropriate permission to use. The cover photograph shows Peter MacLellan (in the yellow shirt) umpiring Durham & Birmingham in the BUCS Premiership.

STOP PRESS: Umpires’ early season briefing provisionally arranged for Monday 3 October 2016 at 7.p.m at Ashbrooke. Further details to follow once arrangements are confirmed.

NORTHUMBERLAND & DURHAM HOCKEY UMPIRES’ ASSOCIATION

OFFICIALS 2016-2017

President Peter MacLellanSecretary Jonathan RewTreasurer Mike WoodAppointments’ Secretary Andrew NixRepresentative to North HUA Robert BrownbridgeRepresentative to Durham HA David YuleRepresentative to Northumberland HA Gillian TroupRepresentative to North East Hockey League Miles Hudson

Committee (above post-holders plus) David CrewJean HughesMike LakinskiHeather LewisJohn SaleSteve Troup

UMPIRE DEVELOPMENT

FIH accredited Hockey Academy Umpire Educator Andrew NixEH Accredited Umpire Coaches Robert Brownbridge

Peter MacLellanEH accredited Umpire Tutor Trainer Andrew NixEH accredited Level One Umpire Tutors Andrew Nix

David YuleEH accredited County Umpire Developer Peter MacLellanEH accredited County Umpire Developer Jonathan RewEH accredited County Umpire Developer John Sale

EH Accredited Club Umpire Developers

CLUB Club Umpire Developer(s)Darlington Steven Moore

Durham City Chris DonaldMiles HudsonRichard Oakenfull

Durham University Andrew NixGateshead Denis JamesMarton Furness Leigh BrownMorpeth Gareth MellorNorton John Sale Redcar Steven Russell

Trevor RussellRichmond Roses Lesley AbbeyStockton Mike Lakinski

David YuleUnattached Sophie Ashcroft

Simon LittleDuncan Walker

The Umpire Developer Course is a three-hour classroom based course, accredited by England Hockey, for people who wish to help their own club umpires improve. This could be by working with potential umpires at club level, by helping umpires who have completed a course to prepare for assessment or helping assessed umpires to improve.

The EH accredited County Umpire Developers can support this work, particularly in the case of small clubs.

The course is open to anyone with an interest in umpire development and improvement at club level and is not limited to Umpiring Development Officers. The latter is a post required by the North East Hockey League with wider responsibilities as laid down in rule 4.4c.

*****

LEVEL ONE ASSESSMENTS

Who can assess?

Only NDHUA approved and trained assessors (as per the above list) can carry out Level One umpire assessments, in accordance with the guidance from England Hockey.

How much notice do I need to give?

The more the better is the simple answer! The assessors have other hockey commitments – usually umpiring – which of course give them an appropriate level of credibility.

What standard of game does an assessment game have to be?

Unlike the old system, where a minimum standard of game was required for assessment, in theory any game can be used for assessment. However;

It must be a valid assessment game, i.e. a game between teams from two different clubs or a competitive game between two teams from the same club. The assessor could make a judgement on the day that the game is not appropriate for assessment, e.g if one team only arrived with the minimum seven players.

With that in mind, the level of game is not as important. The safety net is that “an umpire should only be appointed to games he/she is capable of doing”. The responsibility for ensuring that lies with the appointing body, i.e. HUA or club.

A scenario which may cause a problem would be if a club only had an umpire capable of doing, e.g. a Tier 5 game (using BUCS terminology) but required an umpire for a Tier 2 game.

Although the normal requirement of the local leagues is for games to only be umpired by ‘assessed’ umpires, games can be used as assessment games if the following criteria are met;

NORTH-EAST LEAGUE: Games in the Premier Division and IL1 can be used for assessment if that assessment is pre-planned and therefore an approved assessor is present.

DURHAM CLUBS LEAGUE: Games in Division 2 can be used as practice games with the approval of the opposition and if the league secretary is informed in advance. No game should be umpired by two unassessed umpires unless both are being formally assessed, and the home team has the first option.

NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY LEAGUE: Games in the B Division can be used as practice/assessment games as long as the opposition is informed in advance. No game can be umpired by two ‘unassessed’ umpires.

How many practice games should I do before being assessed?

Depends! An unhelpful answer but it really does depend on your previous experience. Some candidates bring a lot of previous umpiring experience to the course but are there to get the qualification, others bring little or no previous experience to the course. Deciding when you are ready for assessment is a personal decision, perhaps in discussion with your club’s Umpiring Development Officer.

Can I “re-sit” an assessment game?

Yes. The minimum score required is 48 out of 80 based on 16 judgements @ a range from 0 to 5 (two of which require a minimum score), although there are other judgements requiring yes/no answers. The assessor will send an advance copy of the assessment form so the candidate is aware of the criteria, which reflect the key principles delivered on the course.

If you ‘fail’ the assessment then you will receive some notes about your performance which you may choose to share with your Umpiring Development Officer, who may work with you before re-assessment.

If you pass your assessment on e.g. a Tier 4 game and umpire at that level for some time, there is no reason why you can’t be formally observed again to determine your suitability to do e.g. Tier 2 games as part of your progression, by an assessor or county umpire developer and/or your club’s umpiring development officer.

Progression through the umpiring levels is by a series of formal observations.

How much does it cost?

Assessments for members of clubs affiliated to either Durham HA or Northumberland HA are carried out free of charge, due to the way the association is funded, i.e via each County HA via a levy per team.

Active status

The way which HUAs monitored the active status of Level One umpires varied considerably from area to area. In theory this was done by the use of pink cards, whereby club umpires could demonstrate that they had umpired a minimum of three matches per season, confirmed by the signature of the six team captains. Some HUAs continue to do this, but for most it became a bit of an administrative problem.

From 1 August 2016, the policy has been removed, with the emphasis, as mentioned above, on appointing bodies (HUAs/Clubs, Schools and Universities) to appoint responsibly, taking into account the suitability of an individual umpire for the match to which he/she is appointed. Clubs in particular need to ensure they have umpires suitable for the full range of games they play, at least in local, and sometimes in regional, hockey.

HUA Accredited Level 1 Umpire Assessors

Name Email MobileSophie Ashcroft svashcroft@gmail.comRobert Brownbridge robert.brownbridge@interbulkgroup.com 07958 986765Mick Christopher yimc@btopenworld.com 07968 790898Tim Dunn tim.dunn21@btinternet.comMike Lakinski mike.lakinski@ntlworld.com 07503 002006Heather Lewis heather.lewis@btinternet.comSimon Little simon_a_little@btopenworld.com 07801 130506Peter MacLellan peter.mac@totalise.co.uk 07980 381810Andrew Nix anhockey@sky.com 07557 104694Jonathan Rew rewj@btinternet.com 07890 496453John Sale jrhsale37@gmail.com 07836 719162Chris Thomson petera.thomson@virgin.net 07866 980643Duncan Walker tc0747@yahoo.co.uk 07879 430534David Yule yulehouse@gmail.com 07866 546637

ENGLAND HOCKEY LAUNCH THE HOCKEY HUB – 13 May 2016

Following the successful launch of the Umpire Online Educational site three years ago, we are delighted to announce the development of the Hockey Hub. The Hockey Hub has incorporated the current offering for supporting umpires, with material to aid coaches, teachers and be the home of all online safeguarding courses.

Specifically for umpires, we have updated all content on the current online educational site, with additional video’s in the rules section as well as additional questions on the Online Rules test.

In addition to this, we have added additional modules to help umpires at all levels of the game. The new modules help umpires in the following areas of the game:

Managing Attacking Free Hits within the 23m area

Managing the Aerial Ball

These modules are the first in a series of new material to continue the development of umpiring across Great Britain.

If you have already registered on the Online Educational Site, your log in details will be transferred over to the new site. To have a look at the new content, please visit:

http://hockeyhub.englandhockey.co.uk

For your say in what additional areas of the game you would like help with, please contact david.elworthy@englandhockey.co.uk with your suggestions. 

ARE YOU REGISTERED ?

The previous edition of Dan’s Diary carried an article explaining the rationale behind the way the NDHUA was funded in response to some adverse comments at a meeting. The article showed that there were substantial financial savings from the old system particularly for those clubs who put a lot of time and support into developing their umpires. And that is the way it should be, with clubs encouraged to promote umpiring at all levels.

All clubs affiliated to either Northumberland or Durham HAs need to register their qualified umpires with NDHUA and Umpiring Development Officers have been given details of how this is to be done. UDOs have been asked to provide a single list of all their umpires by 12 August 2016, although it would be useful if individual umpires could check with their UDO to ensure they are on the list. Among the benefits is third-party liability insurance covering all activities within hockey umpiring. It does not cover personal accident, injury, loss of contents etc.

Any potential incidents against an umpire must be reported to Peter MacLellan (NDHUA President) – peter.mac@totalise.co.uk and copied to Mike Wood (NDHUA Treasurer) – mikew1369@sky.com.

Full details of the policy, arranged with Ecclesiastical Insurance plc via Suffolk HUA are available on request. Pool umpires are registered on a separate list by Jonathan.

QUALIFIED UMPIRES (for registration purposes)

The term “qualified umpire” covers three distinct groups of umpires:

1. Umpires who did the old Level One course and successfully completed their assessment. On successful completion they were issued with a Level One registration number.

Anyone who did the old Level One course but didn’t complete the assessment is ‘out of time’ and can only qualify as a Level One umpire by doing the new Level One course.

2. Umpires who complete the new Level One course are automatically issued with a Level One registration number. They can umpire only up to a certain level (check the regulations of individual competitions for specific rules).

3. Umpires who complete the new Level One course (and automatically issued with a Level One registration number) and then successfully complete their assessment. They can umpire in any competition where the requirement is for an ‘assessed’ Level One umpire.

The registration list should be in alphabetical order by surname as a single list of umpires. However those is categories 1 or 3 above should have (A) in brackets at the end of their L1 number. Although this is primarily for the UDOs when completing the list, assessed umpires should include the (A) after their number when completing the paperwork of any game they umpire.

Clubs and umpires are reminded most leagues impose a fine if umpires do not include their registration number on the paperwork and falsifying umpire details will attract significant penalties including the likelihood of suspensions and disrepute charges.

THE AGM MESSAGE

At the AGMs, the NDHUA representative raised a number of issues which have caused problems over the past season (at least!). The “hymn sheet” given to each NDHUA rep is printed below;

Point Key message(s)1 North HA Code of Pitch Side Conduct (NE Clubs must adhere to all aspects of the code, especially……

handbook p20) No knocking up while a game is in progress The home team captain = match official (unless

one is appointed, i.e. North League) Home club responsible for spectators Children must be supervised

2 Assessments Only candidates from the new (all day) course can come forward for assessment.Assessments can only be carried out by EH/NDHUA accredited assessors (see list)

3 Behaviour Captains (match day) and clubs (general) are responsible for the behaviour of their players (including substitutes), coaches and managers at all times.

4 Club umpires Looking like an umpire – dress code Acting like an umpire – don’t join their team at half-time !Must be registered with NDHUA

5 Organisation Pitch markings & nets need to be suitableNeutral umpires – confirmed by Monday evening (NEHL)Whilst recognizing the difficulties of some clubs, it would be helpful if as many start times as possible were uploaded to Fixtures Live as early as possible. Not just NEHL but all leagues so more watchings can be done.

Clubs are asked to ensure they, their captains, officials, players and spectators (as appropriate) comply with the Code of Pitch Side conduct.

The NDHUA Executive Committee would like to draw the attention of all its members to the association’s code of conduct (September 2016). Umpiring Development Officers are asked to ensure their club umpires – as members of NDHUA through the registration process – are familiar with the code as set out below. The next edition of Dan’s Diary will carry the association’s safeguarding guidance.

NORTHUMBERLAND & DURHAM HUA - CODE OF CONDUCT

EQUITY POLICY

Northumberland & Durham Hockey Umpires’ Association (NDHUA) is committed to the principles of equality. NDHUA will work to ensure that all people, irrespective of age, gender, ability, race, religion/ belief, ethnic origin, colour, nationality or sexual orientation have a genuine and equal opportunity to participate in hockey at all levels and in all roles.

NDHUA believes that everyone has the right to enjoy their hockey in an environment free from intimidation, harassment and abuse.

NDHUA will deal with any incident of discriminatory behaviour seriously, using its own disciplinary procedures and/or referring the matter to an appropriate higher body, e.g. North HUA, England Hockey.

CODE OF CONDUCT

All representatives of NDHUA – whether umpire, official, umpire developer or spectator – must ensure their conduct both on and off the field meets the standards laid down by NHUA & England Hockey. NDHUA requires its representatives to;

1. Display high standards of appearance both on and off the pitch2. Display high standards of behaviour and sportsmanship at all times3. Arrive in plenty of time for matches where they are involved4. Show respect for players, officials, coaches, other umpires and spectators5. Take appropriate measures to ensure their own safety and the safety of others

6. Not use foul, sexist, abusive, racist or threatening language or behaviour, whilst protecting others from similar language or behaviour

7. Meet the expectations laid down by the North Hockey Umpires’ Association and England Hockey

8. Refrain from posting inappropriate comments on social networking sites which may be a criminal offence and will be in breach of England Hockey’s code of behaviour.

9. Follow the procedures and guidelines of other hockey authorities, especially;

EH Code of Behaviour for Umpires & Officials EH Code of Ethics and Behaviour - Respect EH “Good practice when working with young people” guidelines

The above documents (and others) are available for download on the England Hockey website – www.englandhockey.co.uk

NDHUA – DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES

The Disciplinary Committee comprises the President, Chairman and Hon.Secretary. In the event of a member of the committee being unavailable or directly involved in the matter under discussion, the Executive Committee shall nominate another active member of the association to take his/her place.

The Disciplinary Committee shall have the power to determine any disciplinary matter in accordance with the appropriate clause of the EH regulations for enforcement of discipline. In the event of a member being proven, to the satisfaction of the committee, to have been guilty of misconduct or breach of the rules, the executive committee shall have the power to suspend the member or official from all umpiring for a stated period or to deal with the matter otherwise as it sees fit.

The disciplinary committee may decide to refer a matter directly to a higher authority, e.g. to the North Hockey Umpires’ Association, to the National Disciplinary Officer or to the EH Safeguarding Officer.

The decisions of the disciplinary committee in all matters shall be final and binding. This is excepting those appeals that may be made to a higher governing body as appropriate, in accordance with EH guidelines.

NDHUA – September 2016

PITCH MARKINGS & RELATED ISSUES

The close season may offer an opportunity for clubs to work with their landlords to make sure the pitch(es) they are about to hire on a weekly basis are fit for purpose. There appears to have been some improvement in the care and maintenance of our pitches, with that generalisation based on fewer complaints reaching the NDHUA committee.

However, it is important that the standard of pitches remains acceptable throughout the season, with centres undertaking regular maintenance of goals, nets, and pitch markings. The latter seems to be an on-going problem on some pitches, particularly at the top of the circle where lines are often non-existent, or obscured because of a generous helping of sand. That in itself is an umpiring problem, with the support umpire unable to help his/her colleague with key decisions.

One concern comes from a comment that some clubs are reluctant to complain in case the provider’s response is to move to a 3G or 4G surface, for which there appears to be significant access to funding and the potential of greater revenue. That is a much wider issue, as umpires all we can do is make judgements about the suitability of a hockey pitch on a particular day, and whether all that is required is a word with the home club, or a report to the relevant competition after the game, or in extreme circumstances, the postponement of the game.

This is probably not the time of year to discuss frozen pitches or floodlights. Although the rules of individual competitions may vary, all give the final say on pitch conditions to the umpires. Should the umpires disagree, then the game should be postponed. As has been mentioned in previous editions, it would be unwise for the umpires to insist on a game being played if one of the teams was concerned about the pitch.