If you tried to use the meeting link for responses to 11th Jan Umpires' training meeting last night and it said 'full', please try again! The link is now up and running again. Link attached for ease.
Happy Christmas! ... More

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Following lots of feedback from members and clubs asking for consistency of reporting, the Association has developed a briefing document for guidance of how to score team behaviour etc. when you complete your match feedback and expenses form.

The feedback is now on a 5 tier scoring system, Excellent, Good, Satisfactory, Poor and Unsatisfactory, and indicators for what you should look for are given in the document in the "How do I?" section of the "Information and downloads" page of the website. Please remember, these are indicators, not proscriptive rules and you are always entitled to use your judgement and experience to report back on the match you have officiated.

If you have any questions, please direct them to me and I will endeavour to resolve them.

Phil Gibbs
Secretary HHUA
secretary@hhua.org.uk ... More

Ladies and Gentlemen.

National Guidelines now state that personnel travelling to sports events should NOT Car share, unless in a family group, household group or pre-established bubble.

Therefore HHUA Umpires must not, under any circumstances, car share to any appointed match.

Teams have been advised that they must not car share on the way to games, but that is not the role of the Umpire to police.

Naturally, there is a slight possibility if team members do not heed this advice, there is a small increased risk of infection.

Umpires are reminded to maintain social distancing at all times and prevent any form of close encounter with team players.

If any umpire is unhappy with being appointed within these protocols, they are to inform the Appointers immediately. Teams also have been given the option to cancel games running up to Christmas and therefore games may be cancelled at short notice and the appointers may not have an alternative game for you.

Phil Gibbs
Secretary@hhua.org.uk

To: All HUA Chairs
All HUA Secretaries
TAP Chair
TAA

CC: Umpiring Workforce

Hi All

Just wanted to get you all back up to speed with the current position of EH on the Return to Play when the current Lockdown is over.

As you may have seen, yesterday we shared the below statement:

http://www.englandhockey.co.uk/news.asp?itemid=49963&itemTitle=Update%3A+Training+and+Matches+Can+Return+in+Tiers+1+%26+2+From+2+December&section=22

For clarity, we are still awaiting for travel guidance for counties / districts who are in Tier 3. This is due to examples from the previous Tiering system where players were “cut off” from their clubs and prevented individuals from playing hockey. This also had knock on effects at appointing levels, with varying facilities available for showering / refreshments post-match, etc.

We are awaiting feedback from DCMS about this and we will publish the full guidance for Tier 3 hockey as soon as we can.

For those who are living in Tier 1 / Tier 2, hockey can restart at the end of the current lockdown period in line with Step 5 of the Return to Play document from England Hockey.

If you have any further questions, please give me a call. Otherwise, stay safe and wait further guidance from DCMS.

Thanks
David.

David Elworthy
Officiating Relationship Manager
Direct: 01509 228672 | Mobile: 07712 306967
England Hockey, Hockey Pavilion, Loughborough University, Loughborough, LE11 3TU
Tel: 01509 228674 | www.englandhockey.co.uk ... More

Please note that, subject to further announcements from the Government (and EH), the leagues to which HHUA appoints umpires have planned “restarts” in December. Since a considerable number of league fixtures on Saturdays 12th and 19th December are rescheduled fixtures which require new pitch bookings, HHUA will publish its umpire appointments for December in two separate batches: those for Saturday 05/12 and Sunday 06/12 on Saturday 28th November and those for the rest of December on Saturday 5th December. This arrangement should give the home teams adequate time to make their (new) pitch bookings and to communicate start times to HHUA.
David Boyle, HHUA Saturday & Midweek Appointments Secretary
Chris Butler, HHUA Sunday Appointments Secretary

For those of you who missed the meeting - and those who are desperate to watch it again(?!) - here's the link for the replay - with a bit of extra at the beginning to cover the tech troubles Ginette had on the night ;) ... More

Congratulations to two more umpires who managed to sneak in successful assessments in the little hockey we've had so far!
Pete Cooper - welcome to Men's County 2
Nick Cane - congrats on reaching Men's Regional 2
Obviously we have no idea yet when you'll be able to take a run out at your new panels, but well done both!

Ginette
HHUA Umpire Assessment Manager

To: HUA Chairs
HUA Secretaries

CC: Umpiring Workforce Team – EH

Hi All,

Hope you are keeping safe and well?

Wanted to update you on the below items as we progress into November, with some very uncertain times we are living in at present:

COVID-19 and Lockdown 2.0

As you all have seen, we are currently in a 4 week lockdown, with the government’s current statement being that this period of lockdown is due to end at 12:01am on Thursday 3rd December 2020. At present, the government are saying that we would be returning to some form of restrictions for the country, however these are not clear.

The general feedback that England Hockey has been receiving from clubs are that they want to try and play hockey again pre-Christmas. As we move through this Lockdown period, the national picture of other restrictions will become clearer and the appetite from clubs to play league hockey pre-Christmas. We are continually in conversation with clubs and leagues about their desire to play hockey prior to Christmas.

Full updates will be made available from the England Hockey Website (www.englandhockey.co.uk) when updates are available.

Umpiring Courses from England Hockey

For individuals who are interested, our delivery suite of courses are now online and available until the end of the year. We continue to monitor the national picture for the delivery of these within a group setting “face to face” and when things change, we will communicate this with you.

Courses available for booking onto are available through https://hockeyhub.englandhockey.co.uk/officiating-offer

England Hockey AGM Resolution

Over the past month, individuals from all over the country have been supporting England Hockey with setting up transition groups, focussing on the change from the current governance structures within the country to the proposed new structures, as outlined in the “A Structure Fit for the Future” as voted in favour from the member of England Hockey back in September 2020.

The Area transition groups for Officiating are all now in place, however we are still keen for individuals to join in this work. If you are at a loose end over Lockdown 2.0, or would like to share some valuable time making some changes that happen once in a lifetime within our sport, for the betterment of all within the sport, then please click on the below to register your interest:

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=NvkYmuiQxU--asEa8eSc6glBgZrqFi5Go4lwJNC9k8pUQkE1NExUT1QxQzUxOUIySEs3QkVCUFA3QS4u

Further information about the transition for Umpiring & Officiating, in line with the Vision For Umpiring Fit for the Future (attached) will be available in upcoming weeks. If you have any questions in the meantime, please don’t hesitate to let me know.

Have a good weekend, stay safe and hopefully there will be more positive news about the resumption of hockey available in the next few days.

Kind Regards
David.

David Elworthy
Officiating Relationship Manager
Direct: 01509 228672 | Mobile: 07712 306967
England Hockey, Hockey Pavilion, Loughborough University, Loughborough, LE11 3TU
Tel: 01509 228674 | www.englandhockey.co.uk

With so much still changing within the context of playing hockey against a back-drop of the global pandemic, we felt it was time to get in touch again to say thank you for all of your continued efforts to help keep people safe whilst playing.

We now have almost 1100 registered Covid officers who are all doing a great job, helping to govern our safety protocols across the country, so a huge thank you to you all. Within these clubs and organisations we have over 176,000 players and officials signed up to our Participation Agreement and to date, we know well over 100,000 of those are definitely already playing with some leagues and junior activity not started fully yet. So far we have received 15,500 registers from 98% of our clubs.

From those clubs that we have contacted where we are hearing reports of things not quite meeting standards, we have also had really good responses with everyone wanting to make sure they are getting things right. For any of you that still have concerns, please contact us, and we will look to work with clubs to help them close any gaps between our expectations and protocols and what they are able to deliver. We have been actively working with clubs over the last few weeks about protocols, safety practices, registers submission and an array of other areas to keep supporting you all in ensuring your players are as safe as they can be whilst playing. We have also not yet had a single reported case of anyone picking up Covid as a direct result of being on the field of play.

A number of clubs have been attending our Return to Play forums, and we hope these have been useful, but other things that we have become aware of that we wanted to make sure you all knew about:-

1. NHS Notifications to Serco of someone testing positive - within the form that individuals are asked to fill in, there is a field asking for 'Contacts'. Please note that this means people that you have been in close contact with, and these people will be told to isolate so ensure that people DO NOT put the Covid Officer contact details in there! (Otherwise they will be told to isolate.) We are trying to find out the correct way to share Covid Officer details with Serco and will inform you when we know.

2. The NHS Track and Trace app works based on proximity of someone's phone, to someone else's phone - it does NOT work on the people themselves. Hence, when at games/training, remember that you should leave your bags socially distanced as well as being distanced yourselves, otherwise the app will believe you have been within 2m of someone else (who may then test positive) for the duration of that session. To avoid any incorrect instruction to isolate coming from this situation, be careful about where you put your phone, but more importantly, do not use dugouts etc to put your bags - and instead follow our guidance around keeping bags apart, so when you are not playing, you will also be socially distancing around your kit.

3. We have released new guidance around the latest Government Tiering system and what this means for people living and/or playing in each of these areas, along with a Flow chart about what to do when you have suspected or confirmed cases within your club. Please refer to that guidance here:-

http://www.englandhockey.co.uk/page.asp?section=2633§ionTitle=Covid%2D19+Club+Support

If you have any other questions, please remember that the best way to ask them is to email clubs@englandhockey.co.uk, but also refer to the FAQs on the above page, as these are updated every week and so there is always additional guidance available on there.

Once again thank you for all your efforts supporting hockey to be played in these exceptional circumstances.

Kind Regards,
The England Hockey Clubs & Facilities Team ... More

Afternoon all,

Please see below a communication that has been sent out today concerning how the restrictions effect hockey. The full article is available on the below:

http://www.englandhockey.co.uk/news.asp?itemid=49726&itemTitle=Updated+Return+To+Play+guidance+in+line+with+new+Local+Covid+Alert+Levels&section=22

The headlines for appointing umpires, umpire coaches / assessors & officials are as follows:

1) Anyone living in a T1 or T2 level of restriction are able to umpire at any venues in ENGLAND where they are at the same “restriction level”.

2) Anyone living in T3 have been recommended to not travel outside that area unless it is for essential travel (unfortunately, hockey in England doesn’t count as essential).

3) Any teams that are in a T3 location can still play IF their opponents are also from a T3 area.

4) Any umpires that live in a T3 location can still umpire any match within that local T3 Area. For example, if an umpire or official lived 10 mins from Bowden and Bowden were in T3, then the umpire could do a game at Bowden.

5) Wales have different regulations / restrictions in place, so the following is permitted:

- Any ENG umpire from a T1 or T2 location will be given dispensation to travel to Swansea or Cardiff to undertake appointments.
- Any umpires living in WAL are allowed to travel to matches in England in a T1 or T2 location.

As this situation changes, we will update all as soon as we can.

The link to the latest FAQ’s from the England Hockey website concerning the processes around reporting venues / clubs where COVID safety processes aren’t as desired or required due to the current governmental legislations. I would ask that you share this part with your members so that we can remain as safe as possible when taking part in hockey.

I hope hockey continues this weekend safely for you all.

Kind Regards.
David.

David Elworthy
Officiating Relationship Manager
Direct: 01509 228672 | Mobile: 07712 306967
England Hockey, Hockey Pavilion, Loughborough University, Loughborough, LE11 3TU
Tel: 01509 228674 | www.englandhockey.co.uk

the following diagram shows the interplay between Tiers for Hockey to continue: ... More

Hi All

Hope you are all staying well? As communicated last week, England Hockey are continually reviewing our stance to “Return to Play” in England along government advice. As there was an announcement last night, please see below our latest update:

“Latest Government Announcement
After the latest government announcement allowing groups of 6 to meet together outdoors from Monday 1 June following strict social distancing guidelines, we are now updating the guidance for hockey.

Roadmap to Return to Play
When England Hockey took the decision to suspend hockey on the 17 March, it was clear that exactly when and how the sport would be able to return would take time to resolve. Until recently the focus has rightly been on the hockey family, demonstrating our collective spirit through support for charities, key workers in our clubs and looking out for our local communities or other club members as well as engaging within the hockey community and beyond on social media. The focus has not been on returning to hockey until the last week.

With so much uncertainty the aim has been to make decisions on key issues at the right times. Getting the timing right on this has been particularly tricky and will continue to present challenges over the coming months. The aim of this message is to share what we believe the probable steps are likely to be, and in headline terms, the possible implications for the 2020-21 season.

The considerations set out here are all dependent on the ongoing nature of the Covid-19 pandemic and relevant government guidance. We would encourage our players, clubs and associations to interpret these as a guide and support and align to the work that will need to be done if plans change. At this stage it is not possible to make definitive plans.

What will be allowed?
The government alert levels announced on 10 May (link here) set out the first clear steps to emerging from lockdown. These alert levels will not relate directly to hockey activity and having reviewed the information from other countries and other sports we have set out 5 steps to returning to ‘normal’. Three relate to training, and two relate to match play activities. These are as follows:

Phase
Step
Train
1. Training - One to one / household group
2. Socially Distanced Training - Small groups but with social distancing in place
3. Small Group Training – Small group training allowed with some closer contact allowed. Allowing for tackling/marking etc. (some age groups may be allowed to start this stage earlier)
Play
4. Local Match Play – Intra club / local matches can happen but restrictions stop leagues / main competitions resuming (e.g. if travel is still an issue due to car sharing or local lockdowns are in place)
5. Full Competitive Match Play – Full leagues / competitions resume

For the last two weeks we have been at Step 1 with one to one coaching or household groups allowed to play. We will move to the initial stages of Step 2 from Monday 1 June. Detailed information on this will be released as soon as possible after government guidance is made available.

We do not know exactly when we will be able to progress through each step but hope this outline will assist clubs and organisations scenario plan their return to hockey. Crucially it is clear that facility providers are taking different approaches to the current restrictions and not all clubs are able to access pitches. This is a situation we will continue to monitor and take into account linked to the steps above.

England Hockey will issue the necessary advice and guidance and share good practice with as much notice as we reasonably can in the circumstances.

What are the implications of this?
Depending on the timing and pace of progression through the steps there are different implications for the 2020-21 season. These implications are interlinked and complex across the game and decisions need to be coordinated across key stakeholders to avoid unintended consequences. The timing of decision-making is important to allow adequate planning time but also decisions should not be taken too early in case circumstances change.

For the next 6-8 weeks we recommend continuing to plan for the 2020-21 season as normal (option A below). There is a risk that some pre-season activity may be lost and we recommend organisations aim to minimise financial risks where possible in pre-season. If the season cannot start on time but is only delayed for a short period (a few weeks), we will aim to extend it beyond its traditional late March/early April finish (option B below).

If neither of the above scenarios are possible we will consider a revised calendar for the 2020-21 season (option C). This would apply if there was insufficient time to run a normal length season. There could also be a time by which a viable competitive season has to start. A range of scenarios are being developed for this and will be consulted upon over coming months with the relevant stakeholders. Option C would only be enacted if there was a delay starting competitive hockey into mid-November (or later) or a second wave of infections caused more significant disruption.

Finally, there is the possibility an even later start may only allow for a shortened season to take place (option D). The likelihood of implementation of Option C or D will be assessed over coming months.

A
Normal
Season runs normally from end September 2020 to April 2021. League fixtures as usual. Adjustments made to league and competition structuring and regulations to cater for managing potential disruption including incomplete season.
B
Delayed
(Similar calendar)
Season runs normally but starts later and finishes later than usual, for example the end of October to end of April. Adjustments made to league and competition structuring and calendar depending on time lost. Regulations adjusted to cope with disruption including incomplete season.
C
Revised
(New calendar)
A significantly revised calendar is created for season running in a reduced window – e.g. end November 2020 to end of April 2021. Some activities may be removed in this scenario depending on the circumstances.

Alternative formats for competitions and leagues will be developed including potentially splitting leagues in the latter part of the season to create playoffs.

Consultation on this approach will be undertaken in coming months with this scenario only implemented if there is confidence the timing will allow.
D
Shortened
The season runs in a severely reduced window – e.g. end January 2021 to end of April 2021.
In this scenario in adult leagues it could be that all play all but only once either home or away.

Beneath these high-level scenarios there are layers of detail that need to be considered and recommendations made including the different implications for different sections of the sport such as the impact on officiating in each scenario, leagues adapting to issues such as possible localised lockdowns and also for indoor hockey (given indoor sports rules are likely to be different to outdoor).

Given the complexity of this and the need to communicate at the right time, England Hockey will review the position every three weeks around key government announcements, and will update the position for hockey in England whenever the circumstances change.

Chief Executive of England Hockey, Nick Pink said, “As we all continue to navigate this evolving landscape, the England Hockey team have been working hard to prepare the sport for a return to play and to manage the challenges ahead. By sharing our thoughts openly, we hope it enables the hockey community to work together, to plan ahead, and to help us to come back stronger. We plan to engage with you as much as possible as we look to set a course and encourage as much alignment as possible to ensure the sport as whole can thrive. The long-term health of the overall sport will always remain at the heart of our decisions.”

If you have any comments, feedback or input please email: clubs@englandhockey.co.uk

Our updated guidance will be available on the England Hockey website early next week.”

Please also be aware that as this is such a complex issue, groups of volunteers ranging from Regional League administrators and the Elite Domestic Game Panel, through to club reps from small clubs across the country are being spoken with about their situation and viability of returning to hockey.

For umpiring and officiating, there could be differing challenges concerning availability, fixture timings, congestion of calendar and I would recommend speaking with your committees about what challenges could be in place if hockey is unable to restart “as normal” from the 1st September and some of the barriers that you may face. If you have any questions or would like some more guidance, please let me know.

Apart from that, please have a good weekend and stay safe.

Kind Regards
David.

David Elworthy
Officiating Relationship Manager
Direct: 01509 228672 | Mobile: 07712 306967
England Hockey, Hockey Pavilion, Loughborough University, Loughborough, LE11 3TU
Tel: 01509 228674 | www.englandhockey.co.uk

Hi All

Over the past few weeks, a lot of you have been in touch concerning the finalised proposals for the AGM Governance Review, which is due to be voted on by the members of England Hockey in March 2020. Please find a link to the booklet below, which will be shared with HA’s, Leagues and Clubs within the next hour:

www.englandhockey.co.uk/astructurefitforthefuture

Over the past 24 months, representatives from the NPUA and Regional HUAs have been working with us at England Hockey to create the “Vision of Umpiring”. This is a whole game approach, which includes reviewing all pathways, educational offers and the relationship of Umpiring Bodies with the proposed Areas, as well as with England Hockey. In the booklet, we have made reference to some of the work that has been completed so far by the group, however there is still a lot to discuss and finalise. We intend to communicate more from this group early in 2020 on the future of Umpiring and Officiating.

Due to this, I’d like to draw your attention to section 6 where we have extended this timeline by an extra season to include County HUA’s at a later date, allowing time for us to focus on setting the structure correctly for Umpiring (in line with the above), whilst working through the impact per area and allowing us to communicate correctly, accurately and clearly to all of our umpiring colleagues and members.

Please feel free to review the booklet and feel free to contact me in the New Year with any thoughts or questions. In the meantime, thank you for your input and energies this year in Umpiring across the country to support our game at all levels.

Have a very Merry Christmas and look forward to an exciting 2020.

Best wishes
David

David Elworthy
Officiating Relationship Manager
Direct: 01509 228672 | Mobile: 07712 306967 ... More