Our umpires are essential for the success of our sport, we are very lucky at Harpenden Hockey Club to have a fantastic group of umpires that give up their time to help players enjoy their game, however we are always looking to recruit more umpires or develop our existing umpires.
We’re here to help you develop your umpiring skills, explain some of the formalities about umpiring, and provide further learning resource.
At HHC we encourage anyone and everyone to practice umpiring because every game of hockey requires two umpires and the more competent the umpire the more enjoyable each game should be.
The following pages provide information which suitable for everyone; players, coaches, parents, juniors and seniors alike, some of whom might simply want to obtain a better understanding of the rules of hockey or perhaps to start umpiring. Whatever the motivation - you can start to get involved right here!
As a new or inexperienced umpire, you should first complete the EH On-line rules and an Introduction to Umpiring Course. This will give you an excellent introduction to umpiring and will equip you with many of the skills and confidence to do so effectively.
Create your own learning profile on: Hockey Hub and sign up.
On the Hub site, click ‘UMPIRE”, you can then choose from any of the following;
The England Hockey material mentioned above, whilst very helpful, is really aimed at the more sophisticated end of the scale using international games as examples of different interpretation of the rules. Do not become despondent because the vast majority of games are not played like this at Club Level. I would say 99% of games are not played at this pace or level of skill but they are interesting as they raise a host of discussion points!
Wherever you might be in terms of your knowledge and understanding of the rules of hockey and umpiring there are people in the Club only too happy to help. Nigel Morris our own Umpire Liaison Officer is very keen to help at any stage in your personal umpiring development. We are trying to schedule a Level One Umpiring course for anyone who wishes to undertake the course with a view to umpiring at some point.
The club has an umpiring policy it expects all playing members and teams to follow:
Here are the rules themselves (PDF download and/or via the FiH app)
England Hockey have some superb resources to help umpires learn and develop, they are located within their Hockey Hub. Take the free online rules test from England Hockey
Umpire and Technical Committee briefing video release in 2022 to give you an understanding of the new rules:
Other interesting resources are available across the internet, such as the FIH Umpire briefing video used prior to the Rio 2016 Olympics.
A user guide "How to Umpire Hockey" produced by Hockey WA, that covers the fundamentals, positioning, communication and signals.
Some of us like the challenge - we relish the opportunity to tell people what to do, to show off our knowledge of the rules of hockey, and to contribute to the club. Some of us find it intimidating. We're all here to have fun, here to help with our top ten tips to win at umpiring.
1 - Blow your whistle firmly and loudly
2 - Much like playing, it’s all about positioning. Some tips…
3 - Blow what you see. If you’re not sure, look to your colleague. If the players challenge it, smile and explain that you can only call what you see.
4 - Work with your fellow umpire. Stop time and confer with the other umpire
5 - If you think it’s dangerous - it’s dangerous
6 - Use the captains to give warnings to the teams
7 - Don’t be afraid to give a card, but don't throw them about
8 - Communicate loudly and clearly.
9 - Don’t take bad chat. From players, coaches or spectators.
10 - Have fun!
Harpenden Hockey Club welcome new players of any age who want to pick up the sport. Below are a series of videos to help new players understand the rules (videos from FiH) a handy guide to everything field hockey!
Hockey the Basic
Umpire Signals
5 Meter Rule
Green,Yellow and Red Cards
Dangerous Play!
How to Score a Goal
Penalty Corners
We will do our best to get back to you as soon as possible.