USA Field Hockey Offering Online, 3-Week Beginner & Junior Umpire Clinic

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - USA Field Hockey is offering the third online Beginner and Junior Umpire Clinic that will start Monday, April 4, and run for three consecutive weeks on Monday and Wednesday evenings.

After much expressed interest, USA Field Hockey’s Umpiring Department felt the need to run another Beginner and Junior Umpire Clinic and there is no better time than now to add the aspect of umpiring to your participation in field hockey. Umpiring offers you the ability to stay in the game, make new friends and earn some money in the process. All states, leagues and organizations are looking for newer, younger and educated umpires to help them during the upcoming seasons. This is also the first step in obtaining a proper rating and certification to umpire around the country.

Each session of the online Beginner and Junior Umpire Clinic will take place on Monday and Wednesday evenings and run from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET (5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. PT) and last 45 minutes to an hour. All sessions will be presented using the Microsoft Teams platform.

The cost of the online Beginner and Junior Umpire Clinic is $25 for USA Field Hockey Members and $50 for non-USA Field Hockey Members. Registration is now open and will close on Sunday, April 3 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

This online clinic is designed for the beginner umpire, those who are looking to umpire at the middle and high school hockey levels, junior field hockey in recreational leagues this summer and fall and those who have less than 5 years’ experience in umpiring. This clinic is also a great start for players who are thinking of getting into umpiring and expanding their knowledge of the game.

Topics to be covered by USA Field Hockey's Director of Umpiring Steve Horgan include:

• Monday, April 4 - Presentation...Whistling, Signals, Confidence
• Wednesday, April 6 - Positioning...When and where to be to make the best decision
• Monday, April 11 - Cooperation...Working as a team to cover the field to get the calls right
• Wednesday, April 13 - Management...Aerial Balls, Free Hits, Dealing with athletes, coaches and parents
• Monday, April 18 - Rules Applications...Obstruction, Stick interference, Backsticks, Intentional Over the Endline
• Wednesday, April 20 - Keeping It Safe...Managing physical play and dangerous situations

For questions, please contact Steve Horgan at shorgan@usafieldhockey.com.