England Hockey domestic umpires seek ‘buy in’ from teams over player physicality

The National Programme Umpiring Association (NPUA) chair Sean Edwards is keen to see a buy-in from the hockey fraternity as officials get a grip on physicality in the modern game alongside the hope of fewer whistle stoppages this season.

“We know there is more physicality at the top level than the domestic game,” Edwards said on the eve of the domestic season.

“It is a reality and feedback we get from international coaches, something they struggle with is that they are trying to train their players for the physicality that happens at international level, but day in day out at domestic level it is something that we penalise.”