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Pan Am Indoor Cup 2010 - Day 2 & 3
August 11 2010
Drilling and the Danger that results
Day 2 was a short day with only 3 men’s games being played. The good thing about that was that anything we discussed at our first day meeting could easily be implemented and monitored. The main area we wanted to be better on was the drilled ball (in a previous post I described drilling as a dangerous play whereby the player with the ball pushes it with considerable force into an opponent at close range, either to relieve pressure or cause the opponent to commit a foul).
The best tool early in a game to deal with this was the penalty corner (if the foul was committed by the defenders), followed swiftly by cards in addition to the penalty corner. There were much fewer instances of drilling as a result and I think the strategy employed by the umpires was successful.
Prepping for a game
For Day 3 I’d like to talk about game preparation. One of the problems an umpire can run into at tournaments like these is the transportation issue, where there are limited departure times from both the hotel and back from the pitch. This means that umpires can spend hours if not the entire day at the venue, and if you have your match later in that day you are likely to have watched a lot of hockey.
Indoor hockey doesn’t necessarily require an umpire to do an extensive physical warm-up (not that you won’t be moving, but you are unlikely to run 5-7 km as you might in outdoor). You of course should ensure you are well hydrated and well fed, but I find the mental preparation is of most importance, primarily due to the sheer speed of the indoor game.
First off it is important to find some quiet time. Get away from the action when you can and bring something non-hockey related as a distraction (books, music, games, etc.). Get your feet up and do something front-brained; early on in my career it was Tetris, but I’ve known umpires that used to crochet two hours before their match. These single-minded, repetitive tasks are akin to meditation in that they bring a clarity and focus which is imperative for when you umpire.
Don’t forget to make time for a good pre-match chat with your colleague. I suggest to be really thorough you should do it at breakfast so what you discussed can become part of your visualization routine before your game. When your colleague doesn’t speak the same language make sure you have a good interpreter you trust to help the pair of you out.
How Many Green Cards are Too Many?
My game on day 3 was between Uruguay and Mexico. Overall there was nothing to speak of; my colleague Etmar from Venezuela and I managed just fine. When you umpire latin teams there is usually an underlying emotion and fire that is different from other hockey playing nations, so we were prepared for things should they get physical. Both teams came out with lots of passion but it didn’t translate into bad tackling or much physical play. In the end I handed out 4 green cards to Mexico and my colleague handed out one to Uruguay late in the game. All the cards I handed out were for different offences and none seemed to warrant a yellow card. However, in our debriefing after the match our umpire’s manager (Mr. Craig Madden of Scotland) wondered if there had been too many despite the lack of intensity. The point is that once you’ve hit the third green card to one team they aren’t getting the message, and that even though you might not feel it warrants a yellow (the match stayed tied 1-1 from the 10th minute) a yellow card is needed. You could set this up by telling the captain after the third green that it was the last one, and the rest would be yellow. When it came time for my colleague to hand out his first green card to Uruguay there was 3 minutes left, and the green card really doesn’t hold much weight at that point.
All in all it was a good performance from the pair of us and the match ended in a draw, which is what it felt like it should.
