Seventeen promising umpires and two umpires course conductors, all from the Austrian Hockey Federation, met at an FIH Umpires Seminar in Vienna, Austria, from 14ÔÇô16 April.
The seminar held in conjunction with the Men's EuroHockey Cup Winners Trophy and was conducted by Jan-Jochen Rommel from Germany.
The seminar commenced with some work on umpiring theory. The practical work took place at the tournament venue and for each of the three days, the participants watched matches in groups and then discussed various topics concerning the umpiring.
There were also some practical assignments based around group discussions, with each of the groups making presentations to their other colleagues.
The umpires coaches received tuition and information on the practical aspects of their coaching role, which will be used to assist them in improve the performances of the umpires who will be under their supervision. This included advice and guidance on the assessment of umpires' performances, as well as practical individual and group tasks through match observations and match reviews with the umpires from the seminar.
The aim of holding the workshop jointly for umpires and coaches was to help achieve a uniformity and consistency in umpiring, coaching and training which will be to the benefit of all umpires in Austria.
