National Umpire Recruitment

The Hockey Ireland Management Board and Irish Hockey Umpires Association, in conjunction with the IHA Umpire Development Working Group, have been concerned with the decline in the number of umpires throughout Ireland. This becomes even more apparent when Irish competitions are being played on the same day as provincial competitions. To help this situation and to try and increase the number of qualified umpires from within the clubs it has been decided that all clubs entering Irish competitions must have included the details of a named, qualified umpire with their entry form. The papers on NATIONAL UMPIRE RECRUITMENT (below) outline how this system will be managed. There will be a change in the Irish Hockey Bye Laws and Competition Regulations to enact this change.

The papers on PROVINCIAL UMPIRE RECRUITMENT are a set of suggestions only. Provinces may wish to adopt/adapt these to help clubs to develop a pool of qualified umpires within their club.

IHUA will be organising a number of umpiring courses, along with a written examination, before the start of Season 2015 16. This will allow clubs to have their qualified umpires ready for the coming season.

This is an initiative to try and help hockey throughout Ireland and it is hoped that clubs and their members will see this as such and fully support it.