UmpireHockey.org, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is pleased to announce the second of five winners of the 2007 Captain of the Year award. This years second winner is from Somerset County, New Jersey.

At the high school level, the Captain of the Year award is presented on a county-by-county basis. The program began in Mercer County, New Jersey in 2005 and has expanded to include awards in five counties in 2007.

The Captain of the Year award program was created by umpires in 2005 to help foster collaborative relationships between players and umpires. In addition to Somerset County, award winners will be named in four other New Jersey counties -– Bergen, Hunterdon, Mercer, and Morris.

The 2007 Somerset County winner is Danielle Czysz, a Hillsborough High School senior who will be continuing her field hockey career at Syracuse University in the fall.

2007 Captain of the Year winner Danielle Czysz (left) and Hillsborough High School head coach Lyndsey Samenfeld are all smiles after the Somerset County, New Jersey, award ceremony.

Czysz, contacted after the presentation, said, "It's a great honor to be the first recipient of the Somerset County 2007 Captain of the Year award. It's a great feeling to know that the extra time taken to really learn the game has been rewarding in the end."

The award in Somerset County is sponsored by an anonymous benefactor. Funding provides the award winner's recognition plaque, offsets the cost for advanced training of Somerset County umpires, and supports rules education programs for players, coaches, and fans.

According to the UmpireHockey.org website, "The Captain of the Year award winner is typically a player who helps ensure the fairest possible outcome of a game because she has in-depth rules knowledge and so is able to be an advocate for her team when it becomes necessary to challenge an umpire's important call."

UmpireHockey.org's selection committee is made up of high performance umpires, all of whom have been trained by umpires who have officiated gold medal games at the Olympics. A blind review of the nomination forms is used in determining each county's winner.

All team captains in a sponsored county are automatically eligible for the award though individual nominations are required.

Czysz's nomination arose from a play that led to a penalty stroke for her team.

For readers not familiar with hockey, the penalty stroke is like a penalty kick in soccer -– one attacker against the goalkeeper -– but from only 7 yards in front of from the goal line. A corner is from almost 30 yards away from the goal line and is more like an inbounds pass in basketball. Not many goals are scored in field hockey so, because Czysz knew the rules she knew her team should get a penalty stroke opportunity rather than an inbounds pass. That is really important.

When Czysz felt that the umpire made the mistake, she went over to the umpire's partner and politely but forthrightly ask that the umpires check with each other about what happened. While doing so she described what she saw happen and why she felt her team should be getting a 7-yard penalty stroke and not an inbounds pass from 30 yards away.

The umpires quickly called time out, met to discuss the play, agreed that Czysz was right and awarded her team a penalty stroke!

In the old days, captains who spoke up like this might have been scolded or even carded for questioning an umpire. What happened this time was that the umpire who made the error corrected her call and Czysz was nominated to be Captain of the Year.

UmpireHockey.org is seeking a national sponsor to bring the award program to the college level. For more information concerning the Captain of the Year award program, please write: coty@umpirehockey.org

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