FOR HOCKEY PLAYERS

Chronicle (Levin), 1 September 1949, Page 7

FOR HOCKEY PLAYERS

Les. M.

Murphy)

Umpire Is Most Impottant k The Game

(By

The most important person m a of hockey — 'the umpire1 — is covered in -this, the eoncluding article, as also is hall control.and my final advice to players. An umpire's duties are by- no means light or simple. In the first place he must know the rules of the game ohorGUgiily. Learning up hockey .ruies irorn a handbook all very we'l, but an umpire needs to ce a piayer. He mus. give sharp decisions, and stick to ihem. The. old proverb, "He who hesitates is lost," is . specially applicable to umpiring, The oid, old rme, so 1 am told, was that the umpire khou d not give a' ruling withou: an appeal.' Since those days the rules have. changed and .he umpire holds sole charge of the game and his decisions are final. Umpires should not be too fussy or too lax. The medium between over-stringency and mere looking-on will be found by practice.

In every case the umpire's ruling is absoiutely final and can only be altered by appealing to .uhe governing body of • the game. _ Very seldom, however, the assoeiation changes umpires' decisions and, again, nothing shows up an unspjrtsmahxike team more than disputing his decisions. A team might think thao they have been unjustly treated by some .ruling oi his, but always remember his decisions are to be as prompt-as the blast of the whistie, so he is liable to err now and again. Aiways Lreat the umpire fairiy and accept his decisions in the true sporting spirit. Thankless Task In World Of Sport. Umpiring in hockey, as in all games, is perhaps, the most thankless task in the world of sport. Indeed, it is so thankless that it is very surprising that so many have sufficient genuine interest in the sport to conquer their dislike of being 'reviied and maligned for two or three hours reguiarly everj week. The troubie is that a great many players expect umpires to be infallijjle, and they are no more infallibxe than the rest of us. He has a much more responsible task than the player, and scarcely less arduous. He is hound to make mistak.s. But if his decisions are' to' be respe'c'ed, an umpire must be in the correct positi'on to see any breaches and in particuiar to determine accurat'e y whether a player is on-side or off-side. Probably the best position is on a level with the Jiird defender. But the umpire must1 be constantly on the move as an attacking movement .develops, and must train himself Inot oniy to be in the correct position, but to judge instantly -the ! relative pcsitions of the various players at the material time1. As !an attacker can be off-side when 1 1 exactiy in line with the striker or ; the third defender, it is obvious y 1 1 impossible for an umpire who re;!ipains stationary to give correct | off-side rules.

Efficient umpiring will do much to raise the standard of the game by training players to observe the rules. Efficiency does not, however, depend on penalising every breach. The whistie -should be blown as sparingly as possible, subject to two paramount considerations, viz"., that an umpire must obtain and retain comp ete control of ihe game and that he must never allow an advantage to be gained by a berach ot^rules. Yalue Of Ball Control. Stick-to-stick pa:ssing and more combination between the defence -and the attack would help the game to improve considerabiy. Defence players do not gain from hnting hard down the field with little regard for the position of their forwards. It is much better to dodge an opponent before clear!ing instead of hitting the ball straight at her. | Stick To The Rules. j Players and umpires alike should realise that rules are rules and that it is cleariy set forth that the stick must not be raised above Ihe shou'ders, either at the beginning or end of a stroke. In short, I hockey is hockey and not golf, and | if one rule is to he infringed with 1 impunity, we might as well elimin- . ate those referring. to body play and turning on the ball, etc. It is hoped that young players will adhere to this advice and always remember that by playing strict'y to the rules they will not only. be assisting to place hockey on a high " pedestal in the public mind, but materially assist to tring their own names much to the fore in the sport. (Conchided)