Pauline Cuypers graduated from EuroHockey’s Umpire Development Programme earlier this month as she continues her ascent with the whistle with the Belgian keen to rise ever further.
Having been a player on the pathway to the international stage, she told the EuroHockey website that making the decision to focus on umpiring was a big one.
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Growing up, the Red Panthers shirt was the initial focus and she played at international underage level for Belgium and went on to be a Dames 1 goalkeeper for Braxgata and Mechelse hockey clubs.
Indeed, she picked up a Belgian indoor national title in 2022 with Royal Racing Club de Bruxelles but umpiring has since become centre-stage for her for the past four years.
“I started about eight years ago,” she told EuroHockey. “Mainly I was doing youth games while I played myself until a certain point when some coaches and umpires like Sebastien Michielsen suggested I should make the next step.
“When I was a goalkeeper, I was always ‘busy’ thinking what was happening in the head of an umpire. I thought about how I see the game and what I would do [with certain decisions].
“Also, my mom was an umpire so that was another part! When I umpired a game myself, I realised I actually liked it and there was some potential! From there, I became more and more ambitious!”
Unbeknownst to her, she was put forward by the Belgian federation to get involved with the EuroHockey development pathway, linking up with the Umpires for Europe programme in 2021.
She developed through this to be selected in Group 15 of the Umpire Development Programme during which time she was elevated to the FIH’s High Potential list of umpires.
Speaking about the value of the courses, she says the collaborative approach taken is one of the crucial factors.
“We were a very close group and are also close with Group 14 and 16 of the UDP. We have some very honest and open discussions
“I really like it because you’re often talking about stuff you don’t you don’t think about when you just have your own hockey game. Like in Surbiton [at the EHL], there’s so much more going on.
“For example, we had a meeting about specific things we can control on a tournament; where you normally just roll into your tournament and you don’t think about it, now you have extra managing tools in your backpack by discussing and talking to others.
“We also connect with everyone, everybody has a story to tell and you can learn from everyone. Not everybody is as lucky as we are in Belgium so it’s good to share experiences, to see other things.
“I really like how EuroHockey and the UDP built this community that it is more than just talking about, hey you did this wrong, you didn’t see this foot.
“But more about how can we make people better? How can we make our colleagues better? How can we approach as a group? How can we help people out? How can we even make connections off pitch? I think it’s something I really like.
“The more you receive experience and information, you know how to deal with negative points and you see that there is positive in a lot of feedback. So you learn to have a different way of thinking about things.”
Looking ahead, she has received a big boost by being included in the FIH Pro League panel for the upcoming season.
She is looking at getting more elevated European appointments too having been part of the 2022 EuroHockey Under-21 Championships and various club level tournaments.
And she hopes the sky is the limit if she continues along this path.
“I will not stop until I’ve given everything that I can possibly do. It’s a big dream for a lot of us on the UDP but I hope one day to make it to the Olympics.
“It will be a lot of hard work, putting a lot of effort and time in it. But if you want to be ambitious, there’s never enough until you’re there. But I will have to work very hard and then we will see!”
