Hockey India launches plan to empower aspiring umpires, technical officials

New Delhi [India], June 29 : After successfully implementing the landmark Hockey India Coaches Education Pathway that benefitted scores of aspiring coaches in the country, the national sports federation has now launched a holistic Hockey India Match Officials Education and Development Plan to empower aspiring umpires and technical officials.

Hockey India, through this initiative, aims to develop and educate umpires and technical officials currently officiating at district and state-level tournaments. The educational plan will provide these officials with an opportunity to progress and be inducted into the Hockey India officiating system will enable them to officiate in Hockey India-sanctioned Sub Junior and Junior Level Zonal National Championships initially and also equip them to be included in the Hockey India potential list.

On Tuesday, Hockey India notified its Member Units to nominate their registered Umpires and Technical Officials through the Hockey India Member Unit Portal. As part of the development process, the nominated candidates will be further selected by Hockey India as per their eligibility and will be attending the Hockey India Umpires and Technical Officials workshops scheduled in the month of July 2023. The course will be held in five zones namely in New Delhi, Pune, Andhra Pradesh, Jamshedpur and North East. The venue for the North East zone will be revealed later.

To ensure equal representation by women, the Federation has asked its members to nominate a maximum of six Technical Officials and Umpires each out of which three must be female and three male. Altogether a maximum of 12 nominations are requested from the Member Units.

Urging the Member Units to encourage youngsters to take up the course, Hockey India President Dilip Tirkey said, "Over the last few years, Hockey India has persistently hosted online workshops for officials to up-skill their knowledge. This has in turn helped many of our officials get an opportunity to officiate in international matches. With an aim to get more people enrolled into the Hockey India officiating system, we have launched a first-of-its-kind holistic Match Officials Education and Development Plan that will bring aspiring officials up to speed with international standards."

Hailing the initiative, Hockey India Secretary General Bhola Nath Singh stated, "This educational plan is important for the development of officiating standards within the country because it is not enough to nurture and develop young talent; it is imperative that we ensure that when these young players go to play at District, Zonal, or State level tournaments, they have the best of the best experience not just in terms of the matches being conducted but also in terms officiating standards in the tournament."

"These candidates will also have the opportunity to officiate at the Sub Junior and Junior category Hockey India sanctioned tournaments and put their knowledge to the test, raising the bar for the quality of hockey being played across the country," he concluded.

The candidates who enrol for the Match Officials Education and Development Plan will receive interactive learning and study material to keep them updated with the latest FIH rules and regulations. To implement what they have learnt in theory, they will get to officiate as an Umpire/ Technical Official at the Hockey India-sanctioned All India Sub Junior and Junior category Tournaments and National Championships. They will also be eligible to attend future FIH Academy, AHF and Hockey India Umpires & Technical Officials Courses and workshops.

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