A great mix of officials named for the Premier Hockey League
The countdown is on as we are now a week away from the first-ever Premier Hockey League which will see the top players from across New Zealand come together to battle it out to be crowned the Premier Hockey League Champions.
Not only does this event serve to help bridge the gap for our participants between domestic and international hockey, but the league will also provide an ideal setting to help our officials develop as they aim to progress further in their fields as well.
The five officials who were named for the Tokyo Olympic Games have been named to take part in this event in Jackie Tomlinson (Technical Delegate), Simon Taylor, David Tomlinson, Kelly Hudson and Amber Church (Umpires). They will be joined in the league by the top-performing officials from throughout the country.
Hockey New Zealand Technical Manager Colin French commented on the development opportunities that the league will provide “Since March this year under the difficult and rapidly changing Covid-19 Landscape there has been nominal high-performance opportunities available domestically, but also no upcoming International tournaments to prepare our officials for either. Accordingly, the Hockey NZ Officials Advisory Group and I identified the Premier Hockey League as a vital opportunity for development and connection for this group of officials. Connection in terms of working with their peers, but also to link in with other key stakeholders including players, team coaches and managers. Developers have been appointed to facilitate learning and further enhance existing umpire development with improved analysis and self-reflection. This inaugural Premier Hockey League is the best competition we have had in domestic hockey for some time, and I know these officials are feeling both excited and fortunate for the experience it presents to them”.
2020 Premier Hockey League Umpires and Technical Officials Panel
Technical Delegate
Jackie Tomlinson
Technical Officials
Vickie Allen, Richard Baggs, Gavin Hawke, Dave Potter, Nic Rankin, Jackie Tomlinson, Helen Travers
Umpires
Women – Mallory Barnett, Amber Church, Kelly-Anne Foskin, Kelly Hudson, Lani Jackman, Rachel Murphy, Kirsten Stuckey
Men – Tim Bond, Bruce Brownsey, Bren Duckworth, Hamish Ellis-Jack, Lee Erskine, Ben Grant, Gareth Greenfield, Bevan Nicol, Nick Saunders, Simon Taylor, Dave Tomlinson
Umpire Coaches
Lyn Farrell, Sarah Garnett, Paul Morrison, Mark Rippin
Umpire Coach Developers
Colin French & Craig Gribble