Hockey India makes modifications to assessment of officials performance report templates

Hockey India on Thursday made further modifications to the assessment of officials performance report templates including tournament officials and umpires.

The result in the performance report is one of the key factors for the assessment of the work carried out by the tournament officials and umpires in domestic tournaments in India.

In May, Hockey India announced the launch of classification of the Hockey India registered tournament officials which include technical delegate, umpire managers, technical officials, judges and umpires into three grades - Grade 1, Grade 2 and Grade 3.

"The grading will be done out of 100, (percentage-wise) with emphasis for umpires being based on performance reports (from all domestic tournaments), fitness test results and online test results whereas for other tournament officials it will be based on performance reports (from all domestic tournaments) and online test results," the Hockey India said in a statement.

Along with the current evaluation criteria in the officials performance report templates for tournament officials, a new updated umpire assessment match report has been added. The performance of the umpires will be assessed in each and every match they are officiating and the umpire managers will share their reports with the umpires and Hockey India after their respective matches are completed.

It will also be utilised during the umpires debriefing and the umpire managers will ensure that the umpires learn and improve after every match and don't commit the same errors. The assessment match reports will serve as the basis for the appointment of the umpire in the final phases of a particular tournament and shall also help Hockey India ensure that the best performing umpires will officiate in the semi-finals and finals of the particular tournament.

The umpire's performance will be monitored efficiently, leading to the justified selection of umpires during the crucial stages of a tournament. These modifications will contribute to improving the standard of umpiring and officiating in India.

"Improving the structure for the assessment of Tournament Officials & Umpires' performances is a fantastic idea. The more competition we can create among the Officials, the better they will become. Every match will be an important one for each of the Officials. They will have to perform at their very best to have an opportunity to officiate in the business end of tournaments. Tournament Officials including Umpires are the backbones of hockey and it's very important us to ensure that they are evolving and improving with every match," said Mohd Mushtaque Ahmad, president Hockey India.

Hockey India will be conducting an online workshop for all its registered technical delegates and umpire managers from June 27 to 28 which will ensure standardisation of assessment of official which will be a better and more efficient method to effectively mark the official's performance through performance reports.

( With inputs from ANI )