“Umpiring clinics are helpful because of the advise and tools given, but the performances have to be shown on the pitch during matches. Remember, you cannot learn umpiring in a class room”, Says Peter Von Reth, Chairman of the Umpiring Committee of the FIH.

In a communiqué to his Indian counterpart Kukoo Walia on the eve of four Indian umpires being honoured by the Society in the name of his father Gian Singh, Peter almost makes an inventory of contemporary Indian umpiring scene, while in the process, touching upon the nature and work ethics of umpires in general.

Painting the dynamics of the umpiring he says, “Umpiring hockey by itself is a difficult task: the game has changed and is continuously changing, the speed of the game is increasing, the teams are more professional, new skills and tactics can be noticed and there is an increased influence of sponsorship and media attention. This all reflects immediately on the pressure on umpires during their officiating. At times this works well and it is all positive, however there is a risk that the umpire decisions are criticised because of a disappointing result of a match. And that happens, not even rarely but a little too often”

So what is the solution?

Peter seems to place the onus on the umpires to start with. He asserts, “The umpires need to ask themselves continuously if they are really prepared to do the job in the most effective way for every match, unbiased, taking fair and appropriate decisions, being physically and mentally prepared and in top form”.

Peter knows it is a hard job, more so in the light of the fact that they are non professionals, ‘although they do the job in a very professional environment. The rewards are minimal and the keep on umpiring because of they love to be involved in hockey’.

According to Peter, the areas that need focus in umpiring include developing styles, improving the quality of decisions, improvement of the understanding of the game, improvement of understanding of skills and team tactics. These all aspects need to be monitored and coached consistently. “Umpiring is teamwork in a match, umpiring is teamwork in any country and further on in international hockey. Only with that in mind we all together can work towards more quantity of umpires and a continuous aim to improve quality”.

Against this backdrop, Peter feels the gesture of the Sardar Gian Memorial Hockey Society honouring umpires is, in his own words, “putting the sometimes negative image of umpiring aside and trying to put the umpires in the positive spotlight they deserve from time to time”.

Peter also seems to have good opinion on Indian umpires, which can be deciphered when he observes “For India it is great to see that umpiring is taken serious and that there is attention for development, although there is always space for improvement”.

Following are Peter’s take on four umpires who have been honoured last Sunday in New Delhi.

• SATINDER KUMAR: His improvement over the last years at World Level has been tremendous and he has been able to adopt the modern style of umpiring through which he earned the respect of so many teams at the highest level.

• VIRENDRA BAHADUR: He has officiated in quite a few major events like Champions Trophy and always put in a consistent performance. He is a role model of a steady and consistent umpire who is very reliable at the tournaments and definitely he earned his credits. In India he is seen as one of the most experienced and senior umpires.

• ANUPAMA: She has performed with ups and downs in her young career so far already and she coped with disappointments and pressure in a very good way. Now it is time for her to develop more and try to understand the modern game at top level even better to improve and make the next step in her career. There is potential for it. She is a great example that for women also there are opportunities to reach higher international levels. India’s women’s team is doing so well in international hockey, hopefully the development of women umpires will continue and at some stage arrive at the same high level. We definitely would welcome her in international hockey.

• RAGHU PRASAD: He is the example of “enjoying” hockey when umpiring, always friendly, always smiling but at times not the umpire who needs to take the tough decisions. He earned the respect at the top events with his ability to sell the decisions in a positive way but foremost because there could be hardly any criticism on the quality of his decisions. Raghu is an example of an umpire who started at young age and developed his style from tournament to tournament which improved his performance constantly. Still there are steps to make but he has shown much potential and has a bright future. His international career just started although he has earned all his credits in India already.

Concluding his communiqué with a positive note Peter says, “Although only these four umpires have been awarded the honour now, I sincerely hope that it gives all other umpires in India a boost to work on their development”.

Caption:
Up and coming umpire Virender Singh (also a former international player) of Indian Airlines in action in the ongoing Senior Nehru Cup. Virender also umpired in the Junior Nehru Finals a week ago.