About 90% of umpiring in London is carried out by club umpires, and 75% of those also play.
League regulations specify the various levels of qualification needed for games, but meeting those requirements is a constant challenge for clubs.
We understand that challenge, and have a range of measures in place to help.
Strategy
Our overall strategy is to see ‘more umpires, better umpires and happier umpires’ - because of the obvious importance of umpiring to the week-to-week on-the-pitch experience for all. The full strategy can be downloaded from this page.
More umpires
Documents on this page provide ideas to clubs on how to find and develop club umpires internally.
We carry out an annual review of all clubs - mainly by self-assessment - to find out how clubs are coping with the challenge they face, and to encourage them to use the ideas and support available.
Better umpires
We encourage all clubs to have an internal Level 1 assessor if possible, to speed up the qualification process and pass on experience, and to push for all umpires to use radios and have other good practice.
We have an umpire development feedback process, which teams are encouraged to use. This is available for all London matches - whether umpires were appointed by Area or club. Everyone understands that umpire development within clubs is extremely limited.
Happier umpires
We encourage clubs to show their support to their umpires by practical measures, in addition to mere thanks, and we have a welfare reporting system which allows umpires to report incidents to us, irrespective of whether the correct cards were issued in a game.
Forms
Contact and support
- Clubs’ primary point of contact is with officiatingclubliaison@london.hockey. Clubs need to maintain their own point of contact - their Umpire Liaison Officer (ULO).
- Online drop-in sessions are held periodically for clubs to discuss umpiring issues generally.
- Club Umpiring Development Days (CUDDs) can be requested, which bring experienced coaches and assessors to a club to help - particularly with Level 1 assessments. These can be held at any club with 2 home games on the same day, and usually involve local clubs together.
- Clubs may apply for funding to develop their internal umpiring set-ups. Any such funding is conditional on a written plan and specific outcomes, such as a number of members achieving Level 1 assessed status.