Margaret Hunnaball has been awarded with the EuroHockey Diploma of Merit in recognition of her incredible contribution to umpiring and umpire management.
It is a career which has seen her umpire in over 50 international matches before taking in hundreds of elite club and international fixtures as an umpire’s manager, taking her around the world to help develop hockey’s officials.
Her proudest achievement was being one of the pioneers for EuroHockey’s Umpire Development Programme which has been a crucial part of the journey of some of the world’s best umpires.
Indeed, she was particularly delighted to do receive the honour on the day UDP alumni Laurine Delforge became the first European woman to officiate 200 internationals. Within hours, another of Hunnaball’s UDP protégés Ivona Makar reached 100 internationals.
Hailing her contribution, which took place in front of many of her officials colleagues, EuroHockey President Marcos Hofmann said: “Every conversation that Margaret has had while mentoring young umpires all this years, have left an important mark on them.
“All those umpires have become better because of Margaret’s council. To leave a legacy is when others carry on with principles and skills that were inspired by you, and she is a screaming example of it.”
The English woman initially took up umpiring by chance having broken a finger on a school trip and so, ruled out of playing, someone gave her whistle to officiate instead.
By chance, she caught the eye of a national umpire’s assessor who encouraged her to keep at it which she did, picking up her level one umpiring award while at Southampton University before dovetailing playing in goal with Winchester Hockey Club and the Hampshire County second team.
Gradually, she rose up the grades locally and then internationally. As an FIH Grade One umpire, her highlights include the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 and a World Cup qualifier in Harare, Zimbabwe.
“I loved going to some of the nations maybe not playing at the top and the challenges some tournaments like Championship III might pose, somewhere you can maybe make a difference.”
She says it was a “natural step” for her to move to umpire management, something she has now done for 20 years across all manner of EuroHockey events. She did this along with being one of the UDP’s brainst trust from the outset.
“We wanted to show young umpires what the international scene is like without going through some of the tortures! We did a lot of focus on what it would be like, the psychology of it, the communication aspect, what they can expect, what they can do if it doesn’t go right.
“One thing we really developed through the UDP is umpires who are reflective and want to learn. Definitely in Europe, our umpires at the top are those who really want to get it right and improve.”
That outlook has also underpinned the introduction of the EHF Rules Group, something which Margaret felt was important to create when representing EHF on the FIH’s Rules Committee.
It is a contribution worthy a huge recognition and why she is a rightful recipient of the EuroHockey Diploma of Merit.
