After I stopped playing, the umpire committee of my club LOHC (Leiden) encouraged me to follow their training to become an umpire+. It was quite a challenge, not least because I was the kind of player who always thought he knew better. Perhaps that was exactly why they wanted me to experience the responsibility and difficulty of the role. And in the end, I really grew to enjoy it. Eventually, I even became the umpire for the first men’s and women’s teams of my club in their friendly matches: a nice honour. To this day, whenever I am in the Netherlands, I still umpire my former team in the veterans ‘hoofdklasse’. I still enjoy it. And I believe enjoyment is what umpiring should always bring. But we all know that this is not always the reality. As Swiss Hockey, we face a major challenge: we must reach a point were picking up the whistle feels good again. For that, several things are essential: respect and acknowledgement, quantity, and quality.

Let me start with respect. There is clearly room for improvement. At the Indoor Final‑4, I witnessed a fantastic, loud, enthusiastic crowd, but also a disturbing large number of negative reactions to umpiring decisions. It made me and others very uncomfortable. This is not how we should interact with one another. What struck me most was the absence of people correcting this behaviour: parents towards their children, spouses towards each other, coaches towards players and vice versa, or club officials towards anyone present.

And even though we appreciate their enthusiasm, parents are not always the best example for our youth when they shout from the sidelines. In my President’s Corner in May, I will write specifically about us parents, so hold on tight 😉.

For now, my message is simple: our respect towards each other must grow. And we can only change this together. That is why we asked the General Assembly (GA) last Saturday to recognise this as a shared challenge. The GA has given us the space to develop meaningful measures that will strengthen the culture and respect we all want. Toward the start of next season, initiatives will be launched, communications prepared, and (new) measures implemented or reintroduced.

With the commitment of all clubs, we should be able to increase the number of umpires. Starting with the youth, using the existing tool Drillster again, or more consistently, and focusing on respect and acknowledgement will help us move forward.

And last but not least: quality. As umpires, we should always strive to improve. Umpires already receive honest feedback, learn from each other, follow training, and review cases. But here too, there is room for improvement. Together, the board, the office, and the umpire committee, we will develop a plan to (re)implement these elements in a structured way.

If there is anything you would like to discuss or any ideas you would like to share, please feel free to email me at rob.mudde@swisshockey.org.

Best regards,
Rob Mudde