Stories from the Field USA Field Hockey is conducting an election for an Officials’ Director to its Board of Directors. Voting began on November 7 and will end on the 14th. Members entering the polls on USA Field Hockey's website can only read a 100 word biography from each candidate before voting. In this article, UmpireHockey.com is providing USA Field Hockey members an expanded view of the candidates by presenting more in-depth information, especially candidate's plans for advancing the future of umpiring in the USA.
Albanese is a former D1 college player, player/coach in the USFHA developmental system, high school coach, owner of a hockey and lacrosse camp business for many years, and is currently a hockey umpire at the D1 level. Albanese has tremendous interest in fostering umpire recruitment, training and development and increasing the number of umpire members within USFHA. She welcomes the opportunity to serve the umpire members of USFHA. "I am a Level II umpire and certified umpire coach seeking your vote for the position of Official’s Director to the Board of Directors of United States Field Hockey Association. "I started my love affair with hockey as the daughter of Kay Jones, who was a member of the 1949 championship Ridley Park High hockey team under the direction of Coach Sigrun Basso in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania. I began my own career in New Jersey as a player in 7th grade and played four years of varsity hockey in high school. I continued as a player under Coach Maryann Hitchens for four years at University of Delaware and then on the club hockey scene for many years after graduation. During my club years I was head coach of the varsity field hockey and lacrosse programs at the Peddie School in Hightstown, NJ. I was a player and coach in the USFHA developmental system and had my own hockey and lacrosse camp business for many years. "In addition to all of this playing and coaching, it was always a long-term goal of mine to pursue umpiring. "Fast forward thirteen years and here I am immersed in officiating, and loving it. I have received lots of intensive training through USFHA-sponsored events --- National Futures Tournament, Junior Olympics, Festival, Disney, seminars with international umpires --- and one of my goals as your Official’s Director is to promote these training and advancement opportunities to many more umpires who are entering, or are already on, the hockey officiating scene. In doing so, we will not only educate many more umpires and increase our umpire members within USFHA, we will also advance hockey. All good things. "I believe we need to “capture” players in the high school hockey ranks and encourage them to try their hand at officiating, even before they consider a coaching career, which is currently the norm. At this young age we can promote the possibility of officiating on the world stage and tap into this young groups’ desire to achieve great things in hockey. "As Official’s Director, one of the ideas I would promote is the creation of an interactive database on the Web that would highlight our treasured umpires who are members of USFHA. Think of it as a modern day coffee table book with glossy color pictures! As I see it, we could do biographies on each umpire with a color photo and a history of their story. This would create content that can be leveraged in USA Field Hockey publications sent out to all current members and materials sent to high schools, colleges, camps and clubs to promote the benefits and prestige of developing as a hockey umpire. "As an offshoot of this, we could use the same technology and offer all umpire members as a way to keep a living resume stored in our database. It would be simple enough to do and this portfolio could serve to assist umpires who are looking to advance their officiating rating, and assigners looking for top flight umpires to officiate high profile games. It would come in very handy when we as umpires are asked to supply credentials for our next rating to have all of this information just a mouse click away I think this would add further value for our membership dollars too. It may also be just the thing that would attract current umpires who aren’t yet USFHA members. "We also need to continue to teach our young players the fine art of hockey officiating. We need to further promote our “Jump In” program and get this curriculum taught at every hockey camp and club in the nation. We need to promote umpire education in our schools, encouraging teachers to integrate umpire teaching in physical education classes. We teach these beginners basic hockey skills, there is no reason not to teach them basic umpiring skills too. In short, we need to make learning how to blow the whistle and signal advancing on par with learning to pass and receive. "To make all this happen, we will need to increase our ranks of certified umpire coaches who are willing to go out and teach their skills to younger umpires. "As a member and officer of several other umpire organizations, I have learned that many times great ideas are already in place and well tested. I would seek out the BEST PRACTICES of our local organizations with regard to umpire recruitment, advancement and membership and try their most successful ideas on for size within USFHA. I would also reach out to my umpire friends abroad and continue to learn more from them as to how they have increased their umpire numbers at their respective organizations. And lastly, I would welcome your ideas on how to accomplish all of these important goals, which once reached, will only serve to advance hockey. "Thank you!" CANDIDATE: Kevin Parker
Parker umpires division 1 college, men's and women's clubs, and high school games. You may have worked with him at one of the many tournaments in which he has participated. Parker works actively in the Bay Area hockey community where he has served as a past President. He is a frequent clinician for new umpires and makes himself readily available to support hockey projects. As a practicing umpire, Parker says he has much experience to give to this USFHA role and is enthusiastic about getting more involved at the Board level. Parker's introduction to hockey was at high school in the UK. "I was 'hooked' from the first time I took hold of a stick. Most of my playing career, almost 20 years, was for my town’s club team as a fullback. "I started to umpire as a way to keep involved in the sport I love: more and younger opposing forwards were getting past me too much of the time! "Since coming to the US 15 years ago, I have been a regular umpiring presence in the Bay Area and at major tournaments in the US and Canada. "This year I have officiated more than a dozen NCAA Division 1 colleges games at CAL, Stanford and University of the Pacific as well as at Ohio University and Missouri State. "Right now I am looking forward to Festival, to getting reacquainted with my umpiring friends and four days of the best in hockey. "Now is a great time in US Field Hockey: every year the standards of play and officiating improve. "Everyone in the game is so much more knowledgeable about the rules and interpretations and there is tremendous creativity coming from the coaches and players making the game more exciting to play and more exciting to watch. However there is still much to do. "For umpires trying to keep current with interpretations, rules modifications, opportunities for advancement, training, coaching and clinics, information is hard to find, often out of date and frequently inconsistent. This makes it hard too for the coaches who want to play to the rulings we’re going to be making on the field: if we’re not all aligned as officials the coaches and players get inconsistent decision making and they get frustrated. "We need to be much more proactive in reaching out to all umpires across the country and keeping them informed and providing clinics across the country. This is going to need investment and commitment. "We need to drive higher standards deep into the game and make it easier for umpires to be assessed, and to self-assess their own knowledge and performance. "We need to make easily available training materials so that consistent messaging is delivered throughout the game - and we need everyone to play the same game: this means much more harmonizing of the rules between FIH, NCAA and Federation. "It is essential for the governing bodies to protect the welfare of the players but they do not need to create arbitrary and capricious rules that neither improve play nor safety. "With modern communications it is possible to make information cheaply available to every umpire in the country. "We need to bring more transparency to the processes of ratings and more consistency to the assessment of umpires. "We need to encourage every umpire to access the resources of the USFHA umpiring community and we need to provide them with valuable content that improves their game. "This is the key to driving them to become members. "And finally, we need to make sure that the best umpires in the country are given all the best support, best investment and best involvement they need on their assignments so that they can continue to represent USFHA with distinction! "My style of management is one of collaboration and cooperation. I expect the first few months on the job to be fact-finding and consensus building, then I will work, on your behalf, to incrementally improve hockey officiating in the US." CANDIDATE: René Zelkin
Zelkin has been involved in field hockey for the past 36 years. Through USA Field Hockey she has served on the Southeast Board for 9 years as the treasurer/secretary; attended the National Hockey Festival as a player, coach and umpire; and holds a Level 3 indoor and outdoor rating. Zelkin has served as the Umpire Manager for the National Futures Tournament and Disney Showcase. She is also the Region 8 Umpire Coordinator and is a member of the USA Field Hockey Umpire Advisory Board. Internationally, Zelkin serves as a technical delegate. Professionally, she is a nurse manager and holds a BSN and Master's of Arts in Organizational Management. "Field hockey has been a central part of my life for the past 36 years. My playing experience brought me quality opportunities that were capped off with a scholarship to Penn State University. As a Penn State player, I was privileged to be a member of the last team to win the AIAW Field Hockey Championship. After college, I continued to play in the club system. I began attending the National Hockey Festival in 1987 as a player in the sectional and open divisions. As a Southeast sectional member, I served on the Southeast board for 9 years as the treasurer and secretary. Through my experiences at the National Hockey Festival, I had the opportunity to play, coach (U19) and umpire (beginning in 1988) allowing me to view the game from many aspects. Umpiring became a true joy for me and I wanted to learn more. I attended USA Field Hockey camps and entered the rating system. I took every opportunity given to me to improve. Over the years, I have developed into a solid umpire working top college games along with a few USA international games. I have served as the Umpire Manager for the National Futures Tournament and Disney Showcase for USA Field Hockey. Additionally, I hold the position of the Region 8 Umpire Coordinator for USA Field Hockey working to improve the development and consistency of umpiring in the region. I have taken the next step and entered the international hockey world in 2005 through the FIH as a technical delegate serving as a Judge and Technical Officer. I continue to grow and experience the game of field hockey at all levels in this country and throughout the world. "Field hockey has been an avenue to help develop solid values for me in team work, commitment, communication and vision. My professional career is in the nursing field. I have a BSN and a Master’s of Arts in Organizational Management. Currently, I am a nurse manager of one of the top delivering hospitals in the country. In this position, I am responsible for a multimillion dollar budget along with almost 200 employees. I am accountable for patient, staff and physician satisfaction, quality of care, patient safety, HR issues for the unit, staff education, and ensuring that all organizational initiatives are implemented, achieved and maintained. Open and honest communication is a solid foundation for success in my role. It is common to hold a crucial conversation with a staff member or physician when issues arise. It is essential to ensure a work environment that promotes collaborative communication. I am skilled in making decisions with forethought and evidenced based practice using my leadership team. "In my career, I represent the staff to Senior Leadership. As an expert communicator, I have built an excellent reputation for myself. My graduate work in organizational management is vast in project management, strategic development and implementation, human resources management and law, marketing and conflict management. These courses have expanded my knowledge and work throughout the years. In the Umpire’s Director Position, I would represent the umpires in this country with confidence with my vast experiences and knowledge base. I have worked to develop relationships in my technical delegate roles to learn more about field hockey throughout the world. Additionally, working in the umpire manager role in both indoor and outdoor hockey allows me the ability to net work with umpires throughout the country. My international experience along with my national field hockey work and nursing career has created a solid foundation and support me as a qualified applicant for this position." IT'S TIME TO VOTE! Umpire members and lifetime members of USA Field Hockey can go to USAFieldHockey.com before 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on November 14, 2008, and vote for their favorite candidate for Officials’ Director to USA Field Hockey's Board of Directors. Details are available on USAFieldHockey.com. Copyright © 2002- UmpireHockey.com |
