Please be aware that as part of the increase in matches within the National League for the 2019/20 season, NPUA with England Hockey are looking to recruit a second Umpiring Appointments Administrator to assist Colin Barthorpe with the umpiring appointments.

The role, whilst being recruited by England Hockey, will be under the direct line management and responsibility of the NPUA. Saying this, applicants do not need to be current members of the NPUA to apply, and a representative group of key stakeholders are involved with this recruitment process.

Details of the position can be found below.
Contact David Elworthy for further information - david.elworthy@englandhockey.co.uk

Congratulations to the following umpires who achieved promotion in the 2018/19 Indoor season:
Men’s Panel
Conor Carmody to NPUA Candidate
Graeme Cooke to Grade 1
Ryan Croxon to Grade 1 & nominated to NPUA for Junior events
Howard Chaplin-White to Grade 1
Tim Forte to Grade 2
Stephen Mason to Grade 2

Women’s Panels
Keven Tate to NPUA Candidate
Rob Butlin to Grade 1
Glyn Jones to Grade 2

All
As we draw to the close of yet another season, I thought I would write to say thank you to all for your support this year. As predicted at South Day, this year has been quite tough, with a fair amount of uncertainty surrounding things like the London League, and next season’s expanded EHL.
For some of you, particularly in the Men’s Grade 2 panel, I recognize that it has probably been a season of frustration. A lot of focus has gone into preparation for the larger EHL Conference, with a fair amount of support being directed towards umpires being made ready for assessment for NPUA. Added to that, we have carried out 20 cross-regional assessments for the East and West, which has obviously meant less resource being available to support our own umpires and indeed, fewer appointments for many of you. Plus, we have had to try and expand our numbers to replace umpires who have been promoted, and to cover our commitments for next season. So, thank you for your patience. The good news is that the hard work put in by our coaches and assessors has been very productive:
12 umpires promoted to NPUA B/C panels, with 1 outstanding on NPDP
6 umpires promoted to Grade 1 panels
15 new members, with a number of candidates pending
Going forward, we now have more clarity on what will be required of us next year. For the Men, there will be 3 Divisions of SHL for SCHUA to appoint to, i.e. South Premier 1 plus 2 x South Premier 2. Of course, that means we will be required to make 60 appointments each week (36 to SHL and 24 to SCWHL), which is a tall order, but presents good opportunities to those of you who have missed out this year as there will be many more games available.
I am confident that with your continued support and goodwill, we will be successful in meeting the demands that next season will place on SCHUA. A sincere thank you once again, for your commitment to SCHUA, which is greatly appreciated.
Enjoy the Summer break!
Bridget Midwinter

Congratulations and welcome to four more new members who have recently passed their Level 2 assessments. Marc Bransby, Bill Carr, Les Cooke, and Stuart Wise.

Welcome to all the new members who have passed assessments for Level 2 since January.
Surinder Bodwal, Matthew Goldsworthy, James Haworth, Peter Hodgson, Paul Meacher and Chris Rockingham. Welcome back to Michael Bowling.

Well done to Simon Carr and Alex Nelson who passed their Level 3 assessments recently and are now members of NPUA joining a number of colleagues who have passed since the turn of the year.
Thanks to all the dedicated members of our development team for helping in the success of our umpires.

Congratulations to Jade Bloomfield, Grant Hunt, Peter Mackintosh and Andy Mansfield who have all been promoted to the Men's Grade 1 Panel and to Colin Reed who has been appointed to Grade 1 on the Women's Panel.

Well done to the following SCHUA umpires who have been successful in passing their Level 3 assessments, and are now members of the NPUA B Panel:
Huw Richards (men's), Kevan Tate, Stuart Fenton, Chris O'Hagan (women's). Congratulations and good luck for the future!

Following a recent tender process, England Hockey has confirmed the appointment of Who’s The Umpire (WTU) as the provider of its centralised Officiating Management System.

This process has come from ongoing consultation between England Hockey and all 37 Hockey Umpiring Associations (HUAs) regarding a common IT system to meet the current and future requirements of HUAs in servicing matches and umpire development at all levels of the game.

What is going to change?

The Officiating Management System (OMS) will consolidate and drive all elements and stages of the England Hockey Umpire Development Pathway, including the management of umpires at club level, communication of development opportunities at a local level to umpires and the promotion of opportunities for umpires to progress up the umpiring pathway. It will also engage with England Hockey’s Hockey Hub and accreditation system, to provide an engaging experience for umpires, umpire development officers, club umpire liaison officers and appointment secretaries alike.

I’m an umpire, how does this benefit me?

Other benefits that are expected will be for umpires to be able to access their England Hockey details directly (as it will feed from the main data management system), officials that are members of multiple associations currently will only need to update their availability in one system, and any developments that are introduced to the system will be available to all users (including those introduced by WTU in other sports).

Who are Who’s The Umpire?

They are based in Norfolk and are a leading provider of software to sports bodies with particular understanding of officiating. They work with national and regional bodies across England and other countries for numerous sports including Rugby Union, Cricket and Ice Hockey. They pride themselves on their ability to understand the needs of clubs, umpires and administrators in particular.

When will it come into place?

A comprehensive testing period is being undertaken on the new system with core users between now and the official launch, targeted to be July 2019, with direct consultations with appointing bodies, HUAs and clubs being carried out.

The below message has come from the EH Ethics and Compliance team:
We are seeing an increasing number of complaints regarding urinating at the side of the pitch. As we are sure you will all agree, this behaviour is not only unpleasant but also a contravention of the EH ‘Respect – Code of Ethics and Behaviour’ – Disrepute Offence, not to mention in some cases a criminal offence. We expect all members to refrain from such behaviour. However, in the event of such incidences, in keeping with the revised Disrepute Complaint Regulations, we kindly ask that these be referred to EH as a Disrepute Complaint in the first instance. It is likely that offenders will face a suspension.
If you have any questions, please refer to Bridget Midwinter or Steve Godwin.

Please can we remind everyone that, as specified in both SHL and SCWHL rules, all matches should be conducted in line with the SCHA Code of Pitchside Conduct. In particular, spectators are not to be allowed in the bench area. Ideally, the bench area should be located on the opposite side of the pitch to spectators, although this is not always possible. Only substitutes and team officials should be present in the bench area, and everyone else kept away. Umpires should confirm this with the home team Captain before the start of each match.

Our technology partner, Tex Solutions, has rolled out an excellent new tool to save members time and effort when completing their mileage expense claims for SCHUA appointments! Here's what's new...
When you enter your expense claim after an appointment, the SCHUA web system will suggest the return mileage for the most likely route - not necessarily the shortest, but almost always the quickest - from your home address to the match venue. If you're happy with this mileage, just enter it into your mileage claim and you're done!
If, on the other hand, you need to claim higher mileage for a valid reason, please do so and then give a short written explanation in the free text box at the end of the expenses claim form.
The system will enable the Treasurer to send a standard email to your registered email address if, for any reason, the claim appears to have been completed incorrectly. You will then have 14 days to drop the Treasurer a note to either correct the claim or to explain the additional mileage, after which time the claim will automatically be amended to show the expected mileage.
If you have any questions as to how the system works after trying it for the first time, do feel free to drop the Treasurer a quick email.
Now you have one less thing to worry about on Saturdays, the SCHUA Management Committee hopes you'll have more time to enjoy what promises to be a cracking 2017/18 season!

The process if an umpire's radio develops a fault is as follows

Go to http://www.umpiretalk.com/returns.html (see link below) and follow the instructions. There may be an amount of £25 payable by the umpire, but if the issue is found to be a manufacturing fault with the radio, this will be refunded.

There appears to be a common complaint that the Jabra headsets lose connection during a game and either all communication is lost, or communication only works in one direction. This may be an issue with the compatibility between the Jabra 2.5mm plug and the socket on the radio, or may be a faulty Jabra. In both cases the supplied boom headset and microphone will usually work.

Ian Anguige

Ideally, the home club will have called you before you set off from home: in this case, please go straight to your Personal Area, confirm the match as cancelled AND enter a zero expense claim. The sooner you do this, the less hassle for Allan & me - thanks!
If you do not get the call before you set off, please make sure you have your phone accessible in case you get a call en route (in which case, please pull over at the first opportunity and check messages). Once you've been informed of the cancellation, turn round and, once home, enter your Personal Area, mark the match as cancelled, enter your mileage expenses for the aborted journey and email me (treasurer@schua.co.uk) to confirm the time you received the call and any other details you feel I need to know as soon as possible . This is important as it will have an impact on whether SCHUA decides the club should be charged for the rearranged fixture (which will not be the case if sufficient notice of cancellation is provided).
In the unlikely event that you travel all the way to the ground only to find the pitch unplayable (and remember, that is the home club's call right up until the first whistle, after which it becomes your call on the grounds of safety. NEVER advise either team that you think the pitch is not playable before the start of the match!), then you should repeat the above procedure upon your return home, making sure to email me to confirm the details and timings of the day's events asap. In such a case, the home club will almost certainly be charged for the rearranged fixture.
Cheers, Matt (Treasurer)