The European Hockey Federation and Lithuanian Hockey Federation held an umpire workshop in Vilnius, alongside the U16 Lithuanian Youth Championship finals, on the 11th – 12th October. This workshop was one of the biggest umpires seminar in Eastern Europe organised so far: 20 participants from five different countries (Lithuanian, Belarus, Ukraine, Finland and Estonia) participated under the supervision of conductor Rob ten Cate, from The Netherlands.
The seminar began with an introductory lunch, where all the participants had a chance to get to know one another. Rob then gave a presentation setting out the seminar’s goals, and the work began. All the participants were given different different aspects to watch and analyse the positives in the matcehs, ranging from umpires’ body language and positioning to umpires’ whistling and team work strategies. After each match, the group got back together and shared the positives they found.
The next day started with theory: signaling, positioning, dangerous balls and match control were covered. Discussions were held, using the observations made the day before. Later in the afternoon, the participants were back pitch side, for more observation. The seminar ended with a small ceremony, where participants received certificates of attendance.
The European Hockey Federation would like to thank the Lithuanian Hockey Federation for hosting this seminar, and for all the organisational work involved.
If your federation is interested in the SNG programme and would like to host a seminar, please contact our Education and Development Manager, Norman Hughes, for more information.
Source: EHF