Ladies International Masters      
28/29 April 18 @ Oxford Hawks

Anyone interested in umpiring at this tournament should contact Ruth Busse direct at 
ruthbhockey@gmail.com expressing your interest.

As the season nears its end, it's customary for me to remind you to claim your expenses!
For many of us, this weekend will mark the end of the league season and time to make that final claim. I'll be making a payment run on Wednesday (28th March) and will then be on holiday until 12th April.
The final payment run for this financial year will be on 30th May. Reminders will be sent out in early May to those members with outstanding expenses to claim. Any claims outstanding after the 30th May deadline will be paid automatically minus a £20 admin fee and with next season's subscription automatically deducted.
Any questions, do please feel free to contact me (treasurer@schua.co.uk)
Cheers, Matt

Congratulations to Kim Morris who has recently passed his coaching assessment and is now a L3 Umpire coach. Well done Kim.

Congrats and welcome to Joy Elliott-Bowman and Alex Mitchel who have recently passed their level 2 assessment and are now full SCHUA members.

Congrats also to Johnny Downer who has recently passed his L3 assessment to become full member of NPUA. Well done and all the best.

Further to my post of 17th January, please note that you should NOT give a technical red for dissent. There have been 2 instances this season where players have been told by umpires that they will not serve a ban because it was a technical red, only to discover that this was not correct, and a ban imposed on them.

Please note that for the second half of the season, expense claims will be paid monthly after the last Saturday of each month. So, if you make a claim during the month, please do not expect payment until the end of the month in question.
Furthermore, as in previous seasons, the final expenses payment for the season will be made at the end of May. All claims must be made by Sunday 27th May. Any outstanding amounts unclaimed after that date will be paid subject to a deduction of a £20 admin fee.
Matt

Oxford University & Oxford Hawks have both reported that thefts have occurred in the vicinity of their home pitches. Please be extra careful and watchful.

We are seeking to raise the profile of the association and umpiring in general. Our twitter account is @SCHUAhockey and is managed by Steve Godwin.There are regular posts on umpiring related matters and interaction with umpires, other HUA's, players and clubs. Please have a look, sign up and join in. Please remember to follow our social media policy when posting and "think before you tweet" No abuse, bad language or controversy please and strictly hockey only.

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 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)

The Officers would like to remind everyone about conducting appropriate Social Media usage with respect to posts on the internet concerning hockey related issues.

We would to ensure that everyone "thinks before they posts" and that all content is checked to ensure no person or organisation or team is abused in any way and that all posts are considerate and appropriate to the situation. For example, we would like to promote and encourage a discussion on the phone with a member of the committee rather than a post-match rant on the internet!!

Remember that all posts on Social Media and all emails are also subject to UK libel laws. Always think to yourself before you post your message - "would I say this message in person?" and "would I be happy to see a post about myself on this situation?" If not, then it simply shouldn't be posted.

The link to the EH guideline for Social Media is in the SCHUA handbook and also below this news item.

Ruth Busse
Hon Secretary SCHUA