As part of our club’s aspirations to improve hockey, we wish to encourage more people to umpire games and help develop the skills of our existing umpires. In addition, if you want to be mentored, we will happily arrange this for you.

We’re very grateful to Club members who help out with umpiring each week. Find a list of who’s been umpiring this season HERE!

Level 1 – Qualified Umpires

If you are already qualified, let us know (see bottom of the page for contact details) and we’ll get you involved with the club. Don’t worry if you qualified elsewhere – there’s a good chance your qualification is transferable. If you can help out with club umpiring that’s fantastic; if you wish to umpire at a higher standard even better, we can get you involved in league appointments (see below).

The annual subscription is £10 for Oxfordshire Hockey Umpires Association (OHUA) membership, which covers ongoing support and insurance (and a new rule book every 2 years). For active club umpires, this annual subscription is paid by the club.

Get Qualified

Details of the England Hockey Level 1 umpiring courses can be found here.

What you’ll get out of umpiring

Club umpires receive £5 for each game you umpire. Not much but better than nothing!
The skills you learn as an umpire are transferable – the key skills being communication and leadership – and will add to your CV.
The opportunity to give something back to your club.
The satisfaction of umpiring well and contributing to a great hockey match.
Improving your own knowledge of the game as a player, from a different perspective.

Club Games

The Ladies’ 4s, to 7s and Men’s 4s to 9s home games, are umpired by our own club umpires. (Away games are umpired by the opposition’s club umpires – thus clubs avoid having to ask umpires to travel to away games.) These games are at an enjoyable and competitive level and a fantastic place to start once you’ve got your Level 1 qualification. Indeed some of the lower men’s sides do not require qualified umpires so they could be a great place to gain experience.

League Appointments

The ladies’ leagues from Trysports Premier 2 upwards have umpires appointed by the Oxfordshire Hockey Umpires Association (OHUA). This covers the Ladies’ 1s, 2s and 3s. In addition, the Men’s 1s to 3s have umpires appointed by Bucks Hockey Umpires Association (BHUA). Don’t ask why different associations are involved – the answer is way too complicated!

If you have a Level 1 qualification and plenty of umpiring experience, please consider taking league appointments. If you wish to umpire Ladies league games you can note your availability on the OHUA website and plan appointments in advance. You can even specify the geographical area you wish to take the appointment in. OHUA pays mileage to cover your fuel, and you should be fed after the game. In a similar manner if you want to umpire men’s games the same process applies – just contact BHUA.

Umpires Guidance and Forms

Umpires' guidance may be found here and forms for MMC and red cards here

Find out more

If you’d like to get involved in umpiring or have any questions – please email info@oxfordhc.org