DAN’S DIARY THE JOURNAL OF THE NORTHUMBERLAND & DURHAM HOCKEY UMPIRES’ ASSOCIATION Volume 30 No.1: November 2016 WHITLEY BAY & TYNEMOUTH – winners of the Maurice Cradduck Fair Play award 2016. The photograph shows Gillian Troup (Chairman of WBTHC) receiving the award from the NDHUA President Peter MacLellan, with the players from the Men’s 2nd X1 and Ladies’ 1st X1 in the background. EDITORIAL Starting a new season with an apology is probably not the best thing to do, but this edition of Dan’s Diary has been significantly delayed for the best of reasons – namely that umpiring developments this season seem to have been happening by the day. It does seem a long time since British hockey was given a huge boost over the Summer when our women’s team won Olympic gold. The exploits of Alex Danson, Kate Richardson-Walsh, Sam Quek et al ensured that hockey was a talking point in the pubs, clubs and living rooms up and down the country, resulting in appearances for some of the squad on programmes like Question of Sport and Jonathan Ross. Although a squad effort, it was the performance of Maddie Hinch in the shoot-out in the Final which captured the public’s imagination, and inspired a new set of fans. Those of us with long memories will recall a similar reaction when GB Men won Olympic gold in 1988. Clubs were subsequently visited by lots of youngsters wanting to be the next Sean Kerly, Ian Taylor or Imran Sherwani. The difference this time is that clubs are better equipped to deal with such an influx, with systems in place to complement the work done within the Counties and Single System. It was back to reality on the opening day of the regional leagues when John Sale and Mike Wood had to abandon the game between Richmond and Huddersfield Dragons due to torrential rain which left the pitch under water. A further game in North Two (East) between Wakefield and Sheffield University Bankers second teams was postponed after all the Sheffield University hockey equipment – bar seven sticks – was destroyed in a coach fire in midweek. Nearer to home, the association began its 60th year with a buffet lunch at the Avenue in High Shincliffe on 16 October, followed by an optional visit to Maiden Castle for the National League game between Durham University and Bowdon. A further event is being planned for the end of the season and Peter MacLellan – [email protected] would be pleased to receive your suggestions about an appropriate date/time/venue. For the first time, the Umpiring Development Officers’ meeting was held over two evenings, with UDOs given the option of attending either the one at Norton or the one at North Shields. Having one meeting in the North of the region and one in the South appears to have significantly improved the attendance at this important meeting. The now traditional pre-season rules evening at Ashbrooke and led by Rob Brownbridge was also well-attended and further information about ‘Keeping Control” is in this edition, together with an explanation of the new red card regulations. The long-awaiting list of umpires is now on the website and elsewhere in this edition are details of how to update the list and some clarification of an umpire’s status. Enjoy the season! Dan’s Diary is the journal of the Northumberland & Durham Hockey Umpires’ Association and appears at least four times per season. The views expressed are those of the individual contributors (where named) and do not necessarily reflect those of the NDHUA. Contributions from anyone with an interest in hockey are welcomed and should be emailed to [email protected]. Deadline for next edition: 1 December 2016. Grand Masters World Cup 2016, Newcastle International Hockey Centre. A trip of a lifetime or a journey of love – a 50-year love for the sport of hockey. The planning started last August during the Grand Masters European Cup in London where I umpired and stayed for the week with a longtime friend Peter Havlin (Norton and Durham late 1960’s and early 1970’s). I had always had a fear of flying and had never flown and Peter and his wife had offered to accompany my wife Jane to Manila to attend our son Roberts wedding. During my week in London I made the decision to go to the wedding and so we all went to the Philippines. When we arrived home Peter said ‘now you have umpired the European Cup and have flown why don’t you make yourself available for the World Cup in Australia’. After much thought and nagging and after contacting Mike Talbot I rattled off an e-mail to the organisers and much to my surprise I received a reply saying that I was on the list – so I had no choice – I had to go. So, an amazing experience was about to happen – we decided to fly from Newcastle to Newcastle (10,500mls) and have 4 days in Sydney before moving 2hrs north to Newcastle NSW where the GM World Cup 2016 was to take place. There were to be 10 days of competition, 42 Teams from all over the world, over 1000 participants and 137 games played on the Centres 3 water based pitches. As well as the WGM Organising Committee the Officials included a Technical Delegate and Assistant with 12 Technical Officers assisted by local volunteers, Mick Lever, the Australian National Umpire Manager and Assistant with 25 umpires from around the world including Australia, England, Netherlands, Italy and Spain. Our umpire briefing was held on the opening morning by Mick and after introductions and the handing out of an Umpires Bag (3 shirts, a towel, water bottle and the Official Programme – if we wanted a Tournament Cap we had to buy it!) the briefing concentrated on communication and consistency. We had been already being required to prepare by studying the FIH Briefing 2016 as the games were to be played under FIH Rules and an understanding of the rules and the recent rule changes was essential in establishing the consistency of umpiring expected by the teams. After the Briefing, all Officials and Umpires (see photo) joined the teams at the 8th Grand Masters Hockey World Cup Opening Ceremony. On a blustery afternoon, the teams were greeted as they paraded onto the pitch by an Aboriginal dance troupe and the World Cup Mascots. The players and their supporters were then welcomed on behalf of the aboriginal people of Newcastle by Aunty June, and by the Lord Mayor of Newcastle and Ben Hurting from Hockey Australia. The tournament was officially opened by Wim van Noortwijk, President of WGMA and the Australian national anthem was sung in aboriginal language and in English by the Waratah Primary School choir. The games were played in unseasonal hot weather and there was a need to keep hydrated. As you would expect most of the games were played at a slightly slower pace than I am used to, however, you should not underestimate the skill, fitness and commitment of players who are the world’s best Grand Masters hockey players. These are players who have travelled from around the world at their own expense to compete in a Hockey World Cup. Without radios, communication during games was by the old method of hand signals, whistle tone and lots of eye contact. Playing 4 quarters also gave us the opportunity to discuss any differences in interpretation during the regular breaks in play – and during the first couple of days there was much need of that discussion with differences involving encroaching within 5mtrs when a player is receiving an aerial ball and managing a free hit within 5mtrs of the edge of the circle. As usual you want to umpire as many games as possible and to be appointed to umpire the top games – I was not allowed to umpire games involving England or England LX but was appointed to 11 games during the 10 days which included a top class 60+ game between Netherlands v South Africa and another involving Australia v Germany. I was, unfortunately, the only umpire to be substituted after being hit on the head with the match ball. The ball had travelled over the back line and I was standing with arms outstretched when a player throwing the ball back onto the field forgot that I was in the way and it hit me on the head. I was dazed but well looked after by the team coaches from the South African and Ireland teams. I completed the 1st quarter but then on advice from the Umpire Manager and the Doctor I sat out the rest of the game with the 3rd Umpire taking over. Both Teams and the Officials sang Happy Birthday to me at the end of the game! The umpires for the tournament. As you look at the photo, Tim is on the extreme left of the row (the front row, not the back) The hosts Australia featured in all three National Finals, however, they had to rely on a penalty shoot-out to collect their first success against England in the 70+ category and followed this with a narrow 1-0 win over England at 65+ (including Richard Yardley of Sheffield HC). Having also won the uncontested 75+ World Cup (no other nation entered a team) Australia lined up against Netherlands in the 60+ final looking to put the final seal on a highly successful tournament. The Dutch, however, spoilt their party with a convincing 2-0 win to ensure that at least one World Cup trophy returned to Europe.