Welcome to UmpireDev
This the official umpire development platform of South Central Hockey Officiating for umpires at every stage of their journey, from picking up a whistle for the first time, to performing consistently at the highest levels of the South Central Area.
Most of this site is dedicated to Outdoor umpiring, but if you're specifically interested in Indoor (affectionately known as 'shed') umpiring, please go here.
Umpiring is a brilliant, demanding (and sometimes lonely) thing to do.
It can also feel:
- Hard to know what you should be focusing on
- Unclear what’s expected at your level
- Inconsistent from place to place
- Full of well-meaning advice, but not always clear guidance
This site is:
- A development and support platform
- A place to understand the journey and the standards
- A growing library of practical learning and guidance
- A companion to coaching, development, and assessment
We're here to make development in South Central more accessible,
while still being honest about standards and expectations.
There are three central pillars to this website:
Improving
A big (and growing!) development library covering game skills, game management, match craft and the performance mindset, built from real umpiring, real situations, and real expectations.
Connecting
Home of the Monday Mixer, development activity, and the wider umpiring community, with access to support and tools to develop at your pace. You are not meant to do this on your own!
Understanding
Clear explanations of how appointments, assessments, panels, and progression work in South Central, and how this connects to the wider England Hockey and NPUA frameworks.
Who This Site Is For
Umpires already operating within the South Central neutral appointments system, umpires new to neutral appointments or new to South Central.
You may also be quite new to umpiring - don't worry, there's plenty to help you too!
We mainly support umpires looking to expand their skills and experience through umpiring outside of their club systems and commitments.
If you want to know more about neutral appointments, umpire promotion and how it all fits together, head over to Understanding.
Our Approach
The principles behind this platform are simple:
- Clarity over rumour/urban myth/social media randoms
- Preparation over hope
- Development over entitlement
- Ownership over excuses
- Supportive and specific
This is about helping umpires who care about being the best they can be.
Our Approach
The principles behind this platform are simple:
- Clarity over rumour/urban myth/social media randoms
- Preparation over hope
- Development over entitlement
- Ownership over excuses
- Supportive and specific
This is about helping umpires who care about being the best they can be.
Can't find the answer to your question? Submit it to the Monday Mixer and we'll do our best to give you an answer. This is an in-season only service, so if you can't quite find what you're looking for, please send an email to LeadDeveloper.Officiating@SouthCentral.Hockey and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. I may redirect you to a part of this website, so have a good look first! A selection of the most common questions and answers are shown below, just in case 
Please note these are 'quick' answers with more detail in the rest of the website as indicated.
How do I get my Level 2?
Possibly the most commonly asked question to which the short answer is 'it depends'!
For most umpires, you will need to take neutral appointments for a period of time to gain the skills and experience necessary to pass assessment for Level 2. Once taking neutral appointments, the South Central development team will work with you to focus on the skills you need to demonstrate at assessment.
Many umpires new to neutral appointments don't realise there are a few steps (we call them panels) to progress through before Level 2 becomes a realistic prospect. We aren't holding you back for the sake of it - you will be highly unlikely to have the skills needed to not just umpire but actually enjoy umpiring at a Level 2 standard, if you've only done a handful of club games to this point.
That said, we treat everyone on a case-by-case basis, so if you're a star waiting to shine, we will progress you as quickly as we can!
Most umpires new to neutral appointments should allow a couple of seasons to get to grips with what's needed, but it's also a bit misleading to put a timescale on it as it mainly depends on having a breadth of experience, rather than simply time-served.
Young umpires (under 23) have slightly more options to consider, so if this is you, please read up on this in the Young Umpires section of this website.
Do I have to give up playing?
Absolutely not! Your availability for umpiring may sometimes mean we are unable to allocate you an appointment, but if your priority is playing, the appointers will always do their best to work around what you need.
The Mixer sounds great, but I can't do Mondays. Now what?
Don't worry - if you register on this site, you will get access to the replays when they are loaded. Registering will also give you lots of access to other stuff too.
The Monday Mixer gathering operates on voluntary attendance, and many umpires find it useful just to hear about other questions and challenges, even if they don't have something to ask themselves.
I know that for many people (me too!) time is precious, so if you have a burning question but can't attend the Mixer, let me know and I'll not only get an answer for you on the Mixer, I'll let you know when it's ready to view and even what the time stamp is!
What are neutral appointments?
Various Adult Leagues and other match types are required to have umpires that are not connected to either team playing. These umpires also often need to have reached a specific standard to be qualified to umpire them. Neutral appointments in South Central cover women's and men's hockey at Premier level (Prem 1 and 2) and also Divisional level (Div 1, North and South). We also, where possible, cover as many men's Div 2 South matches as we can (we usually have a few umpires available in the South of the Area after appointing elsewhere). Outside of Saturday leagues, we appoint neutral umpires to BUCS matches and various other competitions and matches on the calendar. If asked, appointers will try their best to find umpires for the matches in question!
How do I get to do neutral appointments?
First up, tell us you're interested! This is important so that we can work with you to get your first neutral appointment set up.
You need to be a member of England Hockey Officiating (EHO), ideally at Gold level (Bronze members can't be accepted for neutral appointments).
Once you have the membership side sorted (important for access to development resources and insurance for matches), we will assign you to the 'candidate' panel. This means the appointers will be able to 'see' you to appoint you.
You will need to complete your availability calendar in the relevant part of GMS. Please read more about how to do this in the appointments section of this website.
The appointers will assign you to a match and we'll send a developer along to have a look and see where your skills are currently at. Don't panic! This is for your protection to ensure we don't assign you to matches that are beyond your current capabilities.
After the match, your developer will give you hints and tips for areas to focus on. We will then assign you to an initial panel within Level 1 and the rest depends on what you want to achieve and how much time you can commit to achieving it.
Why should I bother with neutral appointments?
Neutral appointments expose you to different teams, different styles of play and different expectations. It is often the fastest way to build confidence, adaptability and game management experience.