Crowborough's Umpiring Squad
Senior Umpires
Amanda Catling and Lucy Smith are our amazing umpire coordinators. They lead an extensive team that include panel umpire Julie Bradshaw, experienced umpires Jon Bell, Fraser Milne, Hamish Marr, Justin Singleton, Steven Burns and Matt Ott. Added to this we have our newer Level 1 team members Sam Williams, Brett Parrish, Keren Loder, Vicky Dennett and Will Sermon. We also have the excellent Kate Baxter, Charlotte Richardson, Grace Mercer, Harry Mercer, Matt Burns and Rosie Rawlings.
Amanda and Lucy are always keen to recruit new umpires. It is lots of fun and a great way to spend your Saturday. Do see them if you are interested - and look out for the Level 1 online courses via the England Hockey Hub, plus club run events in the 2023-24 season.
Junior Umpires
Crowborough is always keen to help develop young umpires. In the 2022-23 season, we had nine young umpires officiate at County tournaments. We had further young umpires helping at club festivals and attending the Beacon-based umpire practical training sessions. It was excellent to see Will Sermon qualify this year at Level 1 and young umpires Harry Mercer, Grace Mercer, Freddie Lee and Rosie Rawlings all umpiring league games. We are massively proud of the huge contributions our young umpires make to the club.
Become A Sussex Umpire
In the current season we are encouraging young players to join the Sussex County program to continue (or indeed start) their amazing development. Anyone aged between 11-19 is welcome to join in. Umpiring gives you a full understanding of the rules and a great overview of this fabulous sport. You will develop excellent communication skills, superb collaboration skills with your fellow umpire and it enables players to be in a fair, safe and supported environment. You may also consider umpiring as part of your Duke of Edinburgh award - as a skill or a way to volunteer.
We have some experienced adult umpires here at Crowborough who are always happy to umpire alongside you and guide you on your journey. This season Brett and Julie ran a shadowing session, Amanda introduced new umpires to the basics with a clubhouse session, Fraser paired with new young umpires in league games, plus Julie and Keren travelled to county events to mentor the young officials from across the County.
As a first step you may wish to do the free 7-a-side umpiring session available on the England Hockey Hub. If you are 14 or over you can find the L1 online course via the hockey hub also.
Interested? Contact me (Vicky) and I can help you start your journey.
