Coen van Bunge began his international umpiring career with a tournament at the Bukit Jalil Stadium in Kuala Lumpur and since then has travelled the world as one of the top umpires in the game.
He is now immersed in FIH Pro League matches and, when FIH caught up with him, he was mid-journey from his homeland of the Netherlands to Buenos Aires. Once there, van Bunge umpired the Argentina v Australia men’s match at the Cenard Stadium and was reserve umpire for the women’s match between the same two nations.
Just days later, van Bunge was named as one of the team of ten umpires (five men and five women) selected to officiate at the FIH Pro League Grand Final at the end of June.
The whole FIH Pro league experience is an experience that the vivacious Dutchman has been relishing: “As an umpire the FIH Pro League has been great. Normally we umpire in a tournament, where there can be games played in front of a small crowd. Now, with the home games, the stands are full and there is a great atmosphere. That is the beauty of a one off game. To umpire under these conditions and in countries that we don’t get to umpire in normally is a fantastic opportunity for us.”
That is not to say it is all plain sailing. Just as the teams are under pressure to perform well in every FIH Pro League match, so the pressure is on the umpires to always be at the top of their game.
“Both teams go full power from the first second of the match,” says van Bunge. “This means we have to be fully focussed as there is no second chance.”
During a ten-day tournament, umpires and athletes have a chance to acclimatise and get used to the time zone they are working in. This is not the case with the Pro League. The umpires will arrive one or two days ahead of the match and then depart almost immediately afterwards. For van Bunge a swift return home is an important factor right now as he became a father in February, but for umpire development, all the FIH Pro league umpires are conscious that they need to discuss umpiring issues and developments.
To ensure that the umpires still receive feedback and maintain the sense of camaraderie that the ‘third team’ is renowned for, the umpires and umpire managers working within the FIH Pro League spend a lot of time studying video clips of matches and engaging in online discussions.
It is a challenge of which van Bunge is very mindful: “The challenge to have all the umpires from all over the world on the same page and ensuring each game is umpired in a consistent manner can be challenging but we are doing very well. Hopefully we can meet up once or twice a year as a group of umpires to discuss the games with each other in the future.”
The umpire is also aware of the need for continuity in developing top level umpires. Making sure that umpires are in the public eye, via social media, is key to this. “I strongly believe that it is our responsibility, as Pro League umpires, to make sure that in five year’s time the next generation of umpires is ready to umpire these kind of high level games.
“The way to do that is to talk with the young, ambitious umpires and inspire them with our experiences. We must understand that in every stadium maybe five to ten potential umpires are watching us. How cool is it that after the game we can meet up with them or share our story on social media? The game need ambitious umpires.”
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