The Nordic Series in between Finland and Norway in Vantaa earlier this year saw the first beneficiaries of the 2025 EuroHockey Solidarity grants come into effect with the former nation looking to build its umpiring structures.
Educator Tom Goode oversaw an umpire training course over a weekend, taking the group of 10 participants through items on positioning and game management along with an FIH Indoor Briefing and a Q&A session.
Over the weekend, the group were assigned tasks as they observed four indoor international matches presided over by Christian Gibson, Arto Sinisalo and Simo Mäkelä.
The course participants, who were both experienced and new to refereeing, observed the referees’ actions in the games. During the observation, they considered successes and areas for development, as well as what they would like to incorporate into their own umpiring.
Sanna Äyräväinen , who participated in the course, said: “The course was very rewarding. I learned a lot of new things, and watching games changed over the weekend with the help of various exercises.
“Tom’s way of talking about umpiring was very approachable. On the other hand, during the course, I learned how difficult umpiring can be when a lot happens in a short time during a game, and experience then brings more confidence.
“The course also offered an opportunity to network and share experiences with other referees. It is very important that we get training for officials in Finland.”
The Finnish Hockey Association recently established an umpire and officials committee, which is intended to develop the activities under the leadership of chairman Daniel Price.
From Goode’s perspective, he added: “Daniel is really starting with a blank page as there are no previous structures in place. I relayed my own experience in Ireland where we have taken initiatives on development and structure and I offered to help him out by providing information on what we did (and continue to do) in Ireland.
“Overall, I felt the weekend was very productive. They have never had anything like this before in Finland so a lot of things were very new to them. They are very passionate about hockey and are determined to raise its profile and recognise that umpiring is an essential component of the sport.”
