HERO HONDA WORLD CUP - The Umpire view

C'est dans le nouveau format de Newsletter des arbitres internationaux que l'on peut retrouver l'interview John Wright - un des meilleurs arbitres mondiaux - racontant son expérience lors de la récente coupe du monde en Inde.

Interview with John Wright, World Panel Umpire

John, can you give us your general impression on the tournament. The World Cup Tournament in India was unique in many ways, especially when one considers that the World Cup is the most important Tournament along with the Olympic Games. India was a good place to host an event of this nature especially considering the crowds that the Indian games attracted, however when India were not playing the support for the other teams was very disappointing, which is not good for an event of this stature. It was however good to take the World Cup to India, when one considers the huge following the game has in this country.

A downside was the unbelievable security that was required for the event considering the instability of the country in recent times. While the security was reassuring, it also limited one in many ways. Another first for hockey is the length of the Tournament, and many of us found that it was a bit too long, which eventually starts to effect performances. Our individual disciplines were tested to the full as we had to take extra care in what we ate and drank.

All in all the standard of hockey was good, and for the players to compete in such an amazing stadium must have been rewarding. From an umpiring perspective, the game continues to get faster, with ever improving skills and almost no "downtime" for the Umpires to gather their thoughts. With this obviously comes immense pressure of adding value to the game, and the overall package for the spectators and TV public.

It was sad that the Umpires team, spectators and hockey people weren’t really able to interact and socialise at the stadium similar to what is done at similar events in Europe and more particularly at the 2006 World Cup in Monchengladbach. This kind of interaction helps to make hockey the great game it is. As Umpires we spent much of our time in the confines of our hotel, which is sad when you consider how interesting and different India is.

How was your human experience?

The environment in which we operate at present is a favourable and enjoyable one, and I say that because we are all out to offer our best performances as a group. While our individual performances are important the success of the group (team of Umpires) is far more important. We all know each other really well with the majority of guys having been around for some time already. So there are no issues with nationality or language, but rather a large group of guys getting along well, and at the same time practising our "other job"…umpiring. With the spirit and camaraderie in the group being so strong it really helps us to perform, and deliver our best performances. We all support each other and don’t want to see our colleagues falter. That’s not in the interests of the group. The support offered by our support team is invaluable, with our preparations starting long before the Tournament. All this is absolutely necessary for any hockey event nowadays. As Umpires we can’t just afford to arrive at an event and not present a credible performance. For this year’s World Cup Clive Mc Murray and Don Prior introduced a blog which enabled Umpires to view various clips and make comments / suggestions on how to handle these situations. It was very interactive, and helpful to our preparation. Obviously the normal physical, visual and mental preparation took place as well. A healthy environment creates healthy performances, which in turn creates competition amongst the Umpires, which is good.

John, you and Andy Mair were appointed for the final game; how did you feel entering the pitch for such an important game?

As every match is important for us and the game as a whole, the final is really just another game. The only difference is that there is much more riding on the final, so with that comes more pressure, and a more intense experience. It’s really an honour to be appointed to umpire a final, and to lead the teams out. Again I refer to our greater group of people and support staff (Umpires Managers, TD, Technical Officials, Video Analyst, Umpires) that aid and assist us to be mentally and physically prepared for whatever may happen in the game. In India it was just a pity that more spectators didn’t attend the match, especially with the high quality of hockey on display.

What do you think of the new Video Umpire system?

I’m totally in favour of the video referral system. Due to the nature of the game and the speeds at which the ball is propelled, the number of people that crowd various areas of the field, just makes our task that much more difficult, so the aid of the video referral system is a great help for us and the game. Obviously we are going to encounter new problems that arise but that’s all part of a process to get things done correctly and neatly, and again ensure that the correct decision is made. That’s important. I think it also assists in slowing the game down a bit. Nowadays everything is done to quicken the game up and very little to slow it down. The video system helps this. I personally, and I’m sure many of the World Cup Umpires, have no problem in having a decision overturned, so long as the correct decision is made.

The video referral system has added something new to the game and created some excitement for spectators, and marketing potential for other facets of the game.

Sources : FIH