UMPIRES OF THE MONTH

Louisa Balsom

Louisa Balsom recently umpired at the girls’ U18 Regional tournament. It obviously went well for her as she was appointed to umpire the final. For Louisa, it was the successful culmination of umpiring at a higher level tournament.

Tournament umpiring had begun some years ago with appointments at Collier and Hatch development tournaments, U15 girls and then U18s. Along with these appointments, Luisa has served her umpiring apprenticeship ‘whistling’ primary and secondary level and men’s and women’s club games.

Reflecting on her recent U18 tournament, Louisa noted the step up for umpires on issues of preparation, fitness and expectation.

A big focus was having "no surprises" while umpiring. It meant that players should be confident of the calls we were going to make, rather than being confused. 

“Fitness is a big part of tournament umpiring with the need to be ‘mentally and physically capable’ each day.  In addition, we had radios so umpires could communicate. It helps in high-pressure situations when co-umpires can assist you if you are unsighted."

"Finally the U18 Tournament has motivated me to work hard to achieve my umpiring goals. It has given me the drive to continue and to enjoy it. That’s the reason I do what I do.”

Rhys Mclachlan

Rhys Mclachlan is a 20-year-old Management student at Waikato University. Away from his studies, he is heavily involved in hockey: as a player, a rep coach, a Premier grade umpire and Co-Chairman of the local Umpires Association.

Rhys' involvement in umpiring began when he was in Year 7 and continued through his years at Hamilton Boys High.

A quietly efficient umpiring demeanour has helped Rhys’s umpiring progress to prosper when controlling club or rep games.

Recently he umpired at the National U18 Boys tournament, including officiating in the final, the culmination of a satisfying week.

Reflecting on the week, Rhys commented, “I enjoyed the tournament dynamics and the challenges the week offered.”

Jacob Camilleri

This year I had the privilege of being appointed to the U18 Association tournament, held at Nunweek Park in the garden city of Christchurch. Going into the week, we started with an umpires manager’s meeting; where the main points that came out of this included: Umpiring with 'No surprises' (predictable umpiring), being “in the photo”; relating to positioning on the field and finally to enjoy the week.

As it transpired the week was a fairly exciting week with plenty of big moments, red card on the first day, snow on a Tuesday night, snow and hail on the Wednesday games, ultimately culminating in a final between the north and south island; Canterbury Vs. Auckland.

Overall the experiences of tournaments are always going to have an influence on how you umpire in the future. It’s always my hope that the changes made are positive and will further enhance my hockey umpiring and that is what I strive to achieve each time I walk out onto the turf.

WHO’S NEW IN WAIKATO HOCKEY UMPIRING?

This season,  local umpiring ranks have been boosted by the arrival of an internationally rated umpire, Lani Jackman from Nelson.

Lani’s early years were spent in Picton before continuing her schooling and hockey in Nelson. While there, Lani’s focus increasingly turned to umpiring as she progressed through the umpiring ranks.

It is Waikato’s gain that Lani now lives in Hamilton and continues her umpiring progress from here.

At Age 26, Lani has been appointed to the New Zealand National Hockey League for the past three years which has seen her consistently ranked in the top ten female umpires in the country.Over the past 18 months, she has been exposed to the highest level of hockey the international game can offer with appointments to domestic test series on home soil. These appointments have included test matches between international touring sides: New Zealand, Korea, India, Australia, Fiji and Samoa. Nationally Lani has a raft of experience in coaching and mentoring junior umpires through appointments in Umpire Manager roles at a range of national age-group tournaments. Having relocated from Nelson to Hamilton in 2017 she has found herself incredibly active locally, moving from strength to strength with her eyes set on the 2017 National Hockey League in Wellington later this year.