#FridayFocus, as we continue our FridayFocus series, we are delighted to announce that after 3 years of hard work UDP Group 11 has graduated at the EHL 4-6 October 2019.
Group 11:
Sandra Adell (ESP), Kevin Roberts (WAL), Michael Dutrieux (BEL), Anne Van Den Bosh (BEL), Miriam Gero (AUT) and Hristiyan Vasilev (BUL)
Mentors: Marc Knulle (FRA), Jean Duncan (SCO)
Group 11 Journey
We started our journey in April 2017 at our launch weekend in Berlin where we met for the first time and started getting to know each other with a series of team building activities, classroom sessions and match watching.
We had a competition to build the highest free-standing tower made out of the card. The women won!
In 2017 we also attended the EHL in Amsterdam in August along with groups 9 & 10 where we met some top-level players, coaches and Umpire Managers.
We had our practical weekend in Terrassa / Barcelona in October where we saw the umpires umpiring for the first time.
2018 our second year, we had several mentor visits where Marc and Jean went to watch their umpires, one, unfortunately, was cancelled due to bad weather – however we arranged it again for the following year.
We also attended the EHL in October and had another practical weekend in Amsterdam in November.
EHL October 2018
Practical Weekend Amsterdam 2018
Mentor Visit – Leeds October 2018
Jean visited Kevin in Leeds as part of the ongoing programme of mentor visits.
2019 our final year, we had a full programme with Jean visiting Anne & Michael in Belgium for the rearranged mentor visit, we had a practical weekend in Belgium in March a second practical weekend in Lyon umpiring the U17 Championships. Most of our group attended the EuroHockey Championship in August and then our final event in October – our Graduation.
Mentor Visit – March 2019
Practical Weekend – Belgium March 2019
We met again in March and umpired two matches over the weekend in the Belgium leagues.
Practical Weekend -Lyon May 2019
We met for our last practical weekend in Lyon umpiring at the U17 Championships. It was a beautiful sunny weekend with all our group in action together over the weekend.
EuroHockey Championship August 2019
Group 11 along with Group 12 attended the EuroHockey Championship in August, they worked with a group of UM’s who were at the event for a seminar and met for dinner with some of the umpires umpiring in the tournament. A good time was had by all.
Graduation October 2019
We graduated at the EHL watching some excellent matches over the weekend and then our graduation dinner at the Castelldefels Beach Club on Saturday evening attended by Marijke Fleuren (NED) President, Member Executive Board, Angus Kirkland (EHF) Director-General, Member Executive Board, Member Finance Committee, Member Marketing And Communications Committee, Chair Facilities Committee, Carola Meyer (Ger) EHF Vice President, Chair Development Co-Ordination, Inez Cooper (IRE) Member Executive Board, Chair Education Committee, Member Competitions And Development Co-Ordination, Jorge Alcover Founding Member Of The UDP Programme, Rob ten Cate Education Committee UDP Lead, Groups 11, 12, 13 and their mentors.
It’s been an incredible journey with a lot of fun, laughs and learning along the way. Although our time together ended in Barcelona at the EHL KO16 it is not the end for this little part of the UDP family – we are along planning a reunion for next year.
Some final thoughts from our participants:
Sandra: “UDP has helped me define myself better and give me one more impulse to want to achieve greater challenges. I’m privileged to be part of this great family”.
Kevin: “The exposure you get as an umpire by being part of the UDP programme is second to none, and the friends I’ve made along the way will stay with me for life!”.
Anne: “Personally it was great to be part of this amazing group, for me a group who will be friends for a lifetime! ”.
Miriam: “It isn’t just a programme; it is a big family of umpires all over Europe. Once a UDP member – forever a UDP member ”.
Michael: “Being confronted to hockey from other countries and coached by our mentors has made me improve as an umpire and as a person”.
Hristiyan: “UDP feels like a family where everyone is always a part it”.
Thanks to the EHF for the opportunity to be involved in this incredible programme.
UDP Group 11 – Sandra Adell (ESP), Kevin Roberts (WAL), Michael Dutrieux (BEL), Anne Van Den Bosh (BEL), Miriam Gero (AUT) and Hristiyan Vasilev (BUL)
Mentors: Marc Knulle (FRA), Jean Duncan (SCO)
Huge thanks to Jean for her wonderful roundup of this group – there is no doubt that Group 11 is #EquallyAmazing