Sunday morning I went up to Eastcote with two bags of goalkeeping kit for our two U12 Boys teams for a mini tournament. One of our original 'keepers, Oliver, was down with swine flu (we wish him a speedy recovery), so we needed a volunteer to stand-in.
Most players would agree that when it is cold, raining and windy, standing still waiting for an occasional ball to kick is not top of the list of priorities, but up stepped Jack, keen to help. With Ravi kitting up the other keeper, one of the other parents and I struggled with straps and shorts from an adult kit that had got mixed in that came down past Jack's knees, but eventually got Jack ready as the first match was starting. 8 minutes one way and off they went, Jack's team drawing (a couple of kicks required). On the second match, Jack's team won with some excellent hockey. I was watching our other team at the same time so I didn't see it but as our boys dominated I don't believe Jack had much to do. The third and final match was against the other joint top side. Our boys attacked repeatedly, but couldn't find the goal, then with just a minute or so to go, the opposition broke out with a clear field towards our D and Jack. Out Jack stepped to meet the onrushing opposition attacker and met the shot with a perfect kick to clear the ball away to the right. Cheers and thumbs-up to Jack from all the watching parents, Ravi and I. Soon after, the final whistle went, and a 0-0 draw. Both teams equal on points, and goals scored, and goal difference, and joint winners.
High fives and pats on the back from his teammates, grins all round, and despite struggling to get the kit off in time for the presentations, Jack went up for his certificate with the adult shorts dragging round one leg.
Sometimes all it needs is someone to step up and make that one kick in the pouring rain.
Monday, 30 November 2009
Friday, 27 November 2009
More rules than you think
When my son was umpiring a juniors hockey match for the first time a couple of weeks ago I told him that there were only 3 rules in umpiring to worry about:
As the course was in our clubhouse, there was a good turn-out from ACHC, in fact several captains and both our players' reps attended. The course was over two evenings: the first a presentation on some of the basics and finer points of the game (if a ball breaks in half and only one half crosses the line, is it a goal? - has this ever happened to anyone?), the second a video demonstrating competency and incompetency in umpiring (I know which I was previously closer to) and then ... an exam. 26 years after I sat my last exam, I sat with my colleagues answering questions on "the height of the backboard", "personal qualities required by umpires" and "when to award a bully other than an injury" (the ball breaking in half of course). 60 marks out of 90 to pass.
When I was last in an exam, silence was the order of the day. In this case, after our Men's 2nd XI captain had moved to a table by himself so no one would laugh at his answers, the Ladies adopted a collaborative technique on one table, while the remainder of the men furiously and competitively scribbled in silence trying to be first to finish (it was me by the way) in between clarifying certain aspects of the exam paper with our tutor.
Thanks to Lynn for running this for us in a very entertaining way. Hopefully some more players (or parents) might like to learn to umpire too - it is much easier than you think, enjoyable and you'll be contributing to the success of our club too.
So now we await the results of our exams, though one of my 'umpiring colleagues' announced that he would regard anything less than 90 as a personal failure. In the meantime you will see us on the Hockey pitch in the coming Saturdays and Sundays, completing our match experience and assessments, at which point we may be the most qualified club in Bucks.
- Blow loudly
- Signal clearly
- You're always right
As the course was in our clubhouse, there was a good turn-out from ACHC, in fact several captains and both our players' reps attended. The course was over two evenings: the first a presentation on some of the basics and finer points of the game (if a ball breaks in half and only one half crosses the line, is it a goal? - has this ever happened to anyone?), the second a video demonstrating competency and incompetency in umpiring (I know which I was previously closer to) and then ... an exam. 26 years after I sat my last exam, I sat with my colleagues answering questions on "the height of the backboard", "personal qualities required by umpires" and "when to award a bully other than an injury" (the ball breaking in half of course). 60 marks out of 90 to pass.
When I was last in an exam, silence was the order of the day. In this case, after our Men's 2nd XI captain had moved to a table by himself so no one would laugh at his answers, the Ladies adopted a collaborative technique on one table, while the remainder of the men furiously and competitively scribbled in silence trying to be first to finish (it was me by the way) in between clarifying certain aspects of the exam paper with our tutor.
Thanks to Lynn for running this for us in a very entertaining way. Hopefully some more players (or parents) might like to learn to umpire too - it is much easier than you think, enjoyable and you'll be contributing to the success of our club too.
So now we await the results of our exams, though one of my 'umpiring colleagues' announced that he would regard anything less than 90 as a personal failure. In the meantime you will see us on the Hockey pitch in the coming Saturdays and Sundays, completing our match experience and assessments, at which point we may be the most qualified club in Bucks.
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