Umpired without knowledge! (Friday 15/07/05)

Umpiring hockey wasn’t easy. I realized that there was nothing to be nervous about as a game player yet much more when one has to be on a sports field/ground as an umpire to a game. I was down to umpire a hockey Grade12 girls match on Friday – I got an email message from Roger, my hockey coach, just 2 days before the match that says I could ask someone else to do it if I do not want to umpire this Friday at THC2 at 1700. 2 days wasn’t enough to ask around for a switch in duty, I thought. So I just braved myself to go and get it done even though I knew I didn’t have much knowledge with me to be an umpire to an official hockey game. Roger himself knew that I was new to hockey, in fact the first time I was asked to play a match, I went straight up to him and confessed that I have never played hockey before, but added that I played netball and did a fair bit of cross-country in the past. I didn’t know what position to play in then and so Roger put me down as a left-winger based on the information I gave earlier. Well, that was then. And rules are rules! According to the Tasmania University Women Hockey Club, every player has to be down for either match-managing or umpiring in the entire season we’re playing for, if not penalty applies (fine and suspension 1 game) and stupidly I chose to do umpiring, thinking the officials weren’t serious enough to put me down to umpire any game at all.


So I had to do what I had to do, and on Friday I did this umpiring thing. I found out that I have every reason to be nervous that day (including the other 1.5 days since I first got Roger’s message) for I would be the source of not only a fair game but also one that should end in an enjoyable and memorable competition for all, rather than finishing with a complete mess and angry players, coaches and parent supporters all dissatisfied with my judgment. After all it is also going to be part of my hockey experience too, so it had better be good, I thought. And as I arrive at the hockey ground, I found out that my co-umpire was going to be late and that I had to start the game alone. I was devastated because I couldn’t wait to tell my co-umpire that I had no experience and that I needed him to do most of the decision and judgment. The evening got colder and colder (needless to say that Tas’ next stop is Antarctica which means southerly wind is icy cold…you know, how I think it freaking deceiving when I see pics of people taken when they were in other states of Australia, fully dressed up for winter, and pretending as though the places they were at were so damn cold! How freaking unrepresentative of reality could that be?!), anyways the cold environment wasn’t helpful in keeping me calm. I had no choice but to confess to some officials who were present that I was inexperience and could not afford to do it alone. After that, things got much better; some people offered to help but soon Andrew Price, my co-umpire, arrived. Things then went as planned. I didn’t do much except to act out some general signs to indicate the team that gets the hit. That evening went very long, well at least that’s how I felt. At the end of the game, I was asked to sign some official documents and that was when I realized that I couldn’t even write my name properly, needless to say signing my name, because my hands were practically frozen.

This afternoon i have just received another email informing me of my next umpiring duty (also listed in the local newspaper, pic above). Feeling butterflies in my stomach right there and then, i pray that God be with me on that Sunday morning on the hockey ground...