Young Umpires Programme Launched
Ulster Hockey has announced an initiative based on getting younger people involved in umpiring. The Young Umpires Programme will kick off in September 2017 with the premise of getting young umpires from all clubs throughout Ulster to learn about umpiring and then put what they have learnt into practice through the Ulster Hockey Blitz days throughout the 2017-18 season.
The Young Umpires training course is designed to be an introduction to hockey umpiring for young people aged 15 to 21. This course will focus on how to umpire youth hockey looking specifically at U9, U11 and U13 youth hockey. Training will be held regionally and will be led by the Ulster Umpires Association in partnership with Ulster Hockey.
The Young Umpires course is the first course in the hockey umpiring pathway and is a great way to get a taste of umpiring.
The course is 3 hours in duration and focuses on delivering basic hockey umpiring to U9, U11 and U13 youth hockey. The course will be broken into two parts. There will be time spent inside looking over the theory part of being an umpire (rules, regulations, hand signals etc.) and outside looking at the practical side of umpiring (umpiring young kids).
Commenting on the launch of the Young Umpires Programme, the Workforce Development Officer for Ulster Hockey, Jonathan McMeekin said:
“Ulster Hockey is pleased to announce the introduction of the Young Umpires Programme which we hope will introduce umpiring to the next generation and hopefully get more umpires joining the panel in the years ahead. Ulster Hockey wants kids to get as much out of this umpiring course as possible and to ultimately enjoy overseeing youth hockey matches over the coming season and further ahead.”
Regional training workshops will take between 11 and 22 September in locations across Northern Ireland. North Down fully supports the idea of introducing players to umpiring as early as possible so, if you are interested in taking part in the Programme, please get in touch with Selina Lewis or Ross Linter as ladies’ and men’s Secretaries or Julie Fisher our Youth Coordinator.
The deadline for registering for the Young Umpires Programme is 27 August 2017!
