Hockey Ireland are holding a Female Leadership Conference on Sunday 24th November 2019. The conference aims to engage with those in the hockey community who are female leaders, or currently work with women / girls in our sport, while offering inspiration and support through keynote speakers, interviews and workshops.

Former Irish international captain, Sarah Kelleher, is the keynote speaker at the conference. Sarah is a high performance coaching expert who played for Ireland for over 10 years, including the 1994 World Cup, and has worked extensively within the international underage system in England with huge success.

Marie Crowe will host the conference. Marie is a sports journalist and broadcaster with RTÉ Sport. She presents RTÉ's nightly sports radio show Game On and also regularly reports on live sport for the national broadcaster. Marie was previously a staff writer for the Sunday Independent where she spent a decade interviewing some of Ireland's most successful sports ...

click for full details (new page)

We are aware of a few problems that have developed at the end of last season and the start of the current season with some of the UmpireTalk radios, mainly due to natural wear and tear. Of course there are a number that continue to work with no problems.

This notice is just to say that we are working on solution in conjunction with the Provinces as everyone recognises the widespread importance of radio usage for all matches. It is important that we try and get a radio that suits our wider needs as well as ensuring the cost is affordable. For this reason we will be looking to test some options in the next couple of weeks.

If we can agree on a radio then realistically we are probably looking at just after Christmas for their introduction.

Folks

Please do not ask to swap games on WhatsApp, Facebook or any other medium. If you are not able to fulfil a fixture then YOU MUST let the relevant appointments secretary know and they will remove you from the game and appoint a replacement.

There are selection committees that make these appointments and umpires are appointed to most games for a number of reasons so we cannot just swap when we need to sorry

Thanks

In order to have an efficient and robust disciplinary system it is imperative that all yellow and red cards issued in HI Cup Competitions are sent in to Hockey Ireland (hockeyirelandcups@gmail.com) within 48 hours of the match.

We as umpires play an integral part in this process and therefore any slippages in this requirement can lead to a number of problems. It is absolutely essential that we avoid this!

Although the match card for Irish Cup Matches (ISC, IHT, IHC and IJC) has a section for recording yellow and red cards, we still MUST send the official card reporting form to Hockey Ireland (hockeyirelandcups@gmail.com).

These forms can be found on our website (irishhua.com) under ‘Information’ and ‘Card Reporting’ respectively. In particular, the yellow card form is a relatively quick, tick-box type form; designed to take only a few minutes to complete.

We would ask that there is strict compliance with this request and please consider getting into the habit of ...

click for full details (new page)

We are delighted to inform you of the announcement from the EHF that Ellie Duffy has been selected on their Umpire Development Programme (UDP). Ellie will join five other participants in the 2020-2022 Programme.

We would like to congratulate Ellie on her selection and this excellent opportunity. We wish her every success in what will be a challenging three years.

Tom Goode has also been selected as a mentor on the Programme along with Caroline Brunekreef (NED) and we also wish Tom Goode a successful three years developing umpires of the future!

Folks the Executive Committee just wanted to remind you all of a number of things now that the season is underway:

1. September Minutes – The minutes of the September Executive Committee can be read found at this link https://www.ulsterhockeyumpires.net/index.php/documents/executive-committee/2019-20-season

2. Etiquette – we have developed a policy for all umpires to observe (available here https://www.ulsterhockeyumpires.net/index.php/documents/policies). One of the parts of this policy is about respect and this includes respect for colleagues, this means that we must not criticise, apologise for, or otherwise deride other umpires before, during, or after a game. We all have bad days and make mistakes and the easiest place to umpire is from outside the fence where you get a completely different angle on the play from the active umpires. We should never put ourselves in a position where we are openly disagreeing with what a colleague has given and certainly not when with ...

click for full details (new page)

We have had a couple of umpires get in touch about drones being used at games where they have been umpiring

Jamie Aiken raised the issue at the last Ulster Hockey management board meeting on Tuesday and the advice given was that drones MUST not be used when a game is underway

Below is the section from the UH policy on this issue:

Use of Drones.

The use of drones is being used by a few clubs/organisations for general filming and coaching purposes. Legal responsibility always lies with the drone operator. Failure to fly responsibly could result in a criminal prosecution and a prison sentence if the drone endangers the safety of aircraft. The Civil Aviation Authority has developed a summary of the relevant legislation called “The Drone Code”. Additional rules apply for those filming/taking photographs and Data Protection legislation applies.

Some points from The Drone Code and guidance from the Information Commissioners Office are outlined below. Ulster Hockey ...

click for full details (new page)

The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has made some changes to the rules of hockey. These came into effect in the domestic game within Ireland on 1st August 2019.

It is important for all participants and officials that these changes are communicated and that we understand the concept of these changes so that their introduction is as smooth as possible.

Please see the attached document which details the main changes for the coming season.

For a full copy of the FIH Rules of Hockey 2019 - click on 'Information and Downloads' and go to 'Rules and Guidance'

Hello all

The season is almost on us with some games starting in the next week

Some information below for clarification for the new season

1. Green and Yellow cards

This year, to keep it simple, we will send green and yellow cards to the team dugout rather than into a corner of the pitch for green and the dugout for yellow. This will make it simpler for all teams going forward. Hopefully it will also give the coach and/or manager a chance to have a word with the offending player and to calm them down or get them to behave. If the umpiring team has radios then the umpire nearest the dugout can work with their colleague to bring the suspended players back on (if the umpire away from the dugout side issued the card)

2. Timing of breaks between quarters

The timings for the new season are 4 x 17½ minute quarters. The breaks are 2 minutes, 5 minutes, and 2 minutes between the quarters respectively. The umpires should ensure that before the game, certainly ...

click for full details (new page)