Unfortunately given the recent upgrading to a national orange weather warning for 0500 until 1200 tomorrow we have had to take the decision to cancel the EYHL training event.

Thank you to those who have contributed to the planning of this event - particularly our guest speakers Niall Denham and Emma Russell, and the facilities we were kindly offered at UCD. We will be in touch with potential reschedule dates in the future.

Executive Committee minutes for October, November and December are now available on the documents portal

A new mailshot went out to all umpires giving details on how to manage team benches. The link to this is shown below

Whilst the vast majority of claims should have been submitted already, could we remind everyone to please ensure that any non-EYHL (HI Cup Competitions, Interprovincials, international friendlies etc.) are submitted to the appropriate Umpire Co-ordinators (Tom or Kim) no later than Sunday 26th January 2020 as the Hockey Ireland 2019 accounts will be closing shortly. Late claims will not be paid. Thank you kindly for your compliance.

***** Please Note - you are entitled to claim subsistence & expenses regardless of where the game is *****

The FIH has recently promoted the following umpires: -

Linda Coughlan to International Umpire

Russell Donaldson to International Umpire

Shane O’Donnell from International Umpire to Advancement Panel

Malcolm Coombes from International Umpire to Advancement Panel

Rob Abbott from International Umpire to Advancement Panel (Indoor)

Carol Metchette to International Umpires Manager

We would like to congratulate all of them on their fantastic achievement, particularly Linda and Russell on gaining their international umpiring badges, and wish them every success for their future umpiring.

Hockey Ireland is delighted to announce the launch of two new programmes aimed at growing the base of umpires within hockey: - the Elite Umpiring Programme and the Club Umpire Programme.

Working with the IHUA and Provincial Associations, the Programmes will run in 2019/2020. Hockey Ireland aim to see influential changes right from grassroots hockey through to European level. While the Programmes are aimed at growing umpiring at all levels, the Programme is funded by the Sport Ireland Women in Sport Programme and the focus for the first year will be on female umpiring.

Elite Umpiring Programme

The main aim of the Elite Umpiring Programme is to create a fast-track pathway for females, for those wanting to achieve high standards of umpiring in a short period of time.

Across the whole of Ireland, we need to engage 24 female umpires. Within the duration of our funding we are aiming to have one female working with the EHF on the Umpire Development Programme. This Programme will ...

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An update on the Disciplinary Committee is now in your personal area of the portal and has been sent by email to each umpire. A link to the email is also above

Catch up on this recently uploaded story including a 16 minute on-air interview with Galway Bay FM..........

The European Hockey Federation made a number of appointments this week for upcoming tournaments. Many congratulations to all our members, below, who were selected: -

17th to 19th January 2020 - Colm Kavanagh, appointed as National Umpire to: Indoor Men's EuroHockey Indoor Championship III @ Santander (ESP)

24th to 26th January 2020 - Tara Browne, appointed as National Umpire to: Indoor Women's EuroHockey Indoor Championship III @ Bratislava (SVK)

14th to 16th February 2020 - Rob Abbott, appointed as National Umpire to: Indoor Men's EuroHockey Indoor Club Trophy @ Alanya (TUR)

21st to 23rd February 2020 – Tara Browne, EHF Appointed Umpire to: Indoor Women's EuroHockey Indoor Club Trophy @ Siauliai (LTU)

21st to 23rd February 2020 – Liz Clifford, EHF Appointed Umpire to: Indoor Women's EuroHockey Indoor Club Challenge II @ Puconci (SLO)

21st to 23rd February 2020 – Tom Goode, appointed as Umpire Manager to: Indoor Women's EuroHockey Indoor Club Challenge I @ ...

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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.