1. Cairns Hockey Officiating
Proposed Formal Umpiring Structure 2019
…….Ross Barber

2. Overview and Background
The structure of CHA umpiring has changed a number of times since my involvement in umpiring at CHA over the last 10 years with dedicated people spending countless volunteer hours to ensure the association has what it needs to officiate it’s competition.
People like Bruce Hockey, Jo Kempster, Peter Rowe, Brendan Hoff, Bruce Walker, Janice Noonan, Chris Harris, Mel Craig, Kathy King to name a few.
Through this time a number of different approaches in good faith have been taken to try to establish a structure that works for CHA. An independent association was formed, numerous committees established etc etc, but essentially we still struggle to get a structured program in place for all our umpiring and tech official needs that is embraced by all the stakeholders of hockey.
We have started in 2018 to establish a program for Junior Umpires (JUP). Group has grown from 28 to 72 junior members this year.
Co-ordinating umpiring across the association is not an easy task, we currently need 72 umpires every week P5-6 to A Grade. Excluding junior mentors and tech officials. This requires lots of resources and co-operation across all clubs from junior to senior level. It is a task that is very difficult to do as a small group of individuals.
I believe to improve the standard of umpiring CHA needs to formalise an Officiating Structure that is supported by all the stakeholders of the game. CHA management, Club executives, Players, Coaches, Umpires and Officials, parents and supporters.
The following Structure is my suggestion to create a more formalised way of co-ordinating our umpiring and tech duties at CHA going forward.

3. Direction for 2019 – Proposed Combined Umpiring Group Structure Levels 1-3.
Officiating Structure be established across all Junior and Senior Grades excluding Masters Hockey as follows. (Based on 2018 competition structure).Due to fact most umpires are also players need to have a base spread with participation from all clubs. Each week, the association needs a total of 72 umpires and 24 junior mentors and 12 senior tech officials. Umpiring Structure – Levels 1 to 6. Umpiring all games P5-6 to A Grade games Level 1-3 Umpiring all games from A Grade to S1. (Including C Grade within the allocations for the first time.) Level 1 – A grade Men, Identify at start of season pool of the best 8 umpires Male or Female to umpire all A Grade men’s Games. All umpires to have or be aiming to achieve HQ Level 1 accreditation by season end. Support this Level with an appointed coach / mentor. Recruitment needed here to re-engage with best umpires available in Cairns. Panalists would be expected to umpire 1 game per week. Roster will be one week umpiring L1, next week at L2 mentoring a Level 2 umpire. Level 2 – A Grade Ladies / B Grade men. Identify group of next best 8 Umpires male or female to umpire all A Ladies and B Men games. All umpires be aiming to achieve HQ Level 1 accreditation by end of the season. 4 from this group allocated as reserve umpires to the L1 group, if needed they would umpire two games in that weekend. Each week 4 umpires will umpire all A Ladies and B men with L1 umpire support on A Ladies and B Men Games. Each week 4 of the umpires will umpire as senior umpires with the L3 group. 4 umpires would be allocated as Reserve umpires from the L3 group, if required they would umpire 2 games in the weekend. Support this group with an appointed coach mentor for this level. Level 3 – S1 Boys and Girls and B Ladies. Identify group of 12 Min. next best umpires to umpire all games at this level. Supported by 4 each week from L2 as mentors and 4 from Level 4 as reserve support. All umpires at this Level have HQ Community Advanced accrediatation or are working towards it. Support this group with an appointed coach mentor for this level. CHA allocated tech official on every game. # Each Level to have an appointed Level coach L1 to L3.

4. Direction for 2019 – Proposed Combined Umpiring Group Structure Levels 4-6.
Levels 4-6 Umpiring all Junior games including S2 on Friday night and including Level 6 as an introductory level for P1-2 and 3-4 grades
Level 4 – S2 Ladies, S3 Boys and Girls. Identify group of next best 22 Umpires to umpire at this level. Support the group each week with 4 umpires from L3 group. Provide 4 umpires from the L5 group as reserve panellists. May need additional numbers in this group to deal with allocation challenges across Fri Night and Sat mornings. Support this group with an appointed coach mentor for this level. All games have a mentor / Tech official allocated from the Level 3 group, additional support needed from parents and senior players to mentor each week to review and support the junior mentors.
Level 5 – S4 Ladies, P5-6 boys and Girls. Identify group of next best 20 Umpires to umpire at this level. Support the group each week with 4 umpires from L4 group. Provide 4 umpires from the L6 group as reserve panellists. Reserve umpires at this level need on-field mentor support for each umpire. Support this group with an appointed coach mentor for this level. All games have a mentor / Tech official allocated from the Level 4 group, additional support needed from parents and senior players to mentor each week to review and support the junior umpires and mentors.
Level 6 – Beginner umpires umpiring P1-2 and P3-4 games. 4 identified as reserves for L5 games. Mentor needed to identify and encourage young players into the umpiring group.
# Each Level to have an appointed Level coach L4 to L6.
# All junior umpires P5-6 to S1 supported with junior mentors with adult volunteer supervision.

5. Administrative Support and Funding
To support the program I believe the Umpiring structure needs the following Support.
Chairman of the committee, to drive the direction of the group. Provide a point of contact between CHA board, club executives .
Club representative, point of contact for each club to liase between club executives and the umpiring committee.
Secretary / Records Officer, CHA staff member ? to maintain records and keep records of correspondence.
Allocations officer to allocate games each week, non-voting member of the competitions committee to engage with club representatives. Ensure umpires are considered as a part of the formation of the season draw.
Line mentors/ Coach. L1-6. Each line to have a mentor that is point of contact for that level’s umpiring group to provide support. Regularly reviews and assesses the performance of the group umpires. Level 1 and 2 mentors to be point of contact to engage and communicate with team coaches and managers in appropriate manner.
Funding Officer, seek sponsors and grants for program. Co-ordinate finance and payments with Operations Manager.

6. Flowchart of Structure – Combined Junior and Senior Umpiring Program
CHA Board
Club Coaches, Managers and Captains
Club Executives / Representatives
HQ / HA Resources
Competitions Committee
SUP Program Administration Group
Umpire / Tech Mentors
Level Umpire / Tech Coaches
Level 1
Team Player Support
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Parental Support
Level 5
Level 6

7. Timetable to Implement
7/8/18 – Umpires group considers and agrees to adopt with modification if needed. Submit to CHA management for endorsement.
11/9/18. Arrange meeting post-season with Umpiring group, senior umpires,Senior coaches and players, club executives to discuss and get acceptance. Modify as needed.
Present to members forum. Modify as needed.
Before xmas. Present to CHA board and club executives for endorsement for 2019.
Early January call meeting to elect administration group for 2019 umpires group.Establish roles of members. Elect coaches and Level mentors.
2 weeks before season Formalise umpiring group for Sort into Levels L1-6.
2 weeks before season starts Junior umpiring camp. Senior umpires get together in groups / levels
1 Week before season starts meeting with 2019 A Grade coaches and managers and Level 1 and 2 umpires. Set standards and expectations agreed to by Level 1 umpires and A Grade playing group

8. Costing of the program. Based on 2018 season to CHA members.
Costs of the program are outlined as per summary below.
Cost of Umpiring Structure
Umpires per Round
Mentors per round
No. of rounds in season
Cost per round
Cost per season # L1
A Grade Men 4 18 30
2160 L2
A Ladies B Men
A Ladies
B Men 20
1440 L3
S1, B Ladies
Bladies 15
1200
S1 Boys and Girls 8 12
2880 L4
S2, C Grade, S3 Boys and Girls
C Grade
1800 S2 6 3
2430 S3
3240 L5
S4, P5-6 Boys and Girls S4 10
P5-6 G 14 7
4200
P5-6 B 2 16
960
Total Cost to CHA
24630
# - This excludes cost of finals, includes pres cup
Allows for paid JUP mentor / tech official for each junior game S1 - P5/6