Torneo Los Reyes 2010

Torneo Los Reyes 2010

From a personal perspective, I had been hoping to be selected for this tournament for some time. In previous years there had always been a touch of envy that some of my lucky (or more talented) colleagues were jetting off to some excellent hockey, in sunnier climes, just after New Year. So I was really pleased to be able to accept the appointment.

This was to be my first overseas experience of umpiring outdoor hockey (if you exclude the time I was dragged out of a bar on tour in Holland to learn the hard way that a stick tackle isn’t so much a foul for the Dutch, as the preferred method of tackling). I was quite excited about the challenges of communicating without relying on being understood, particularly as body language and pitch presence is an area I’ve been trying to focus on of late. What better then than umpiring six teams I didn’t know, in unfamiliar surroundings and unpredictable conditions, for the most part with colleagues I’d never met.

Day 1 – Saturday

Five of us, myself, Annika Midwinter, Rob Jenkins, Paul Walker and Box met at Gatwick and departed on time with EasyJet to Barcelona (smooth travel turned out to be a bit of a one off). It was Paul’s birthday, and as an early present he was rewarded with the job of navigating our way to the hotel – a job he managed admirably. We made only one wrong turning and hit only one kerb (in the process ending, for another trip, the perennial Box-Grainger challenge of one day returning a hire car intact).

At the hotel, we were joined by Kate Oultram and Colin Barthorpe who had both flown in from Liverpool. We met for a few quiet drinks at the hotel and some food before having sitting down to set the scene for the weekend from an NPUA perspective. It was made clear to us that we were to ”expect the unexpected” and that the week would be what we, as umpires, made of it. Our mentors Box and Colin would help wherever they could and in whatever way we asked. The alternative briefing came by way of a text from Mr Barstow and simply stated “don’t do anything I wouldn’t do” which left things pretty much wide open… We then met up with the other umpires for the tournament who were a mix of Spanish Federation appointees and EHF Development Programme umpires, who brought with them their mentor Louise Knipe.

The appointments revealed that only Paul had a game the next day, so the rest of us spent a relaxing evening getting to know our colleagues, whilst Paul spent his 20th birthday trying to get some sleep.

Day 2 – Sunday

We met in the morning at the Real Club de Polo de Barcelona for the tournament briefing. Fast becoming the centre of World Hockey as more and more of the key FIH positions are filled by Polo members, this marble and wood-panelled oasis of opulence was to be our base for the next four days. Following the briefing, we had a few drinks on the terrace in the January sun, watching the polo ponies trotting round the polo field. It was a tough start to the tournament…

Before long we wandered out to watch Paul in his first game – Polo Juniors against Framlingham College. From the warm up it looked like Polo would have far too much for the English team, but they put up a plucky performance and restricted the damage where they could. Paul had a good game, and the rest of us were left a little disappointed not to have had a run out on day one to get a feel for the venue and conditions.

Once Paul had (eventually) showered, we ventured off to the Polo Club restaurant with meal tickets in hand. Polo has three restaurants, and the main one is a significant attraction for the great and good members of the club. Of course, as with any good restaurant there is a protective maître d’ to shield its discerning diners from the kind of riff-raff that might pitch up off the street from time to time. He met his match in Box, and after much gesturing and the loud announcement of several important names from the world of Spanish hockey, we were seated. Humbled, the restaurant manager retired to his siesta, whilst most of us enjoyed the sublime paella and a refreshing beer. Annika, on the other hand, could not hide her displeasure at the assortment of shellfish and rice, and had we been looking for examples of body language leakage, we need have looked no further.

Which brings us to the final activity of the day – watching the Body Language 2 latest edit and feeding-back constructive criticism (and a large amount of praise) to Box. This version is another step forward from where we were at the Conference and will hopefully be available soon. It all got a bit much for Colin though, who snoozed through most of the show.

Day 3 – Monday

This was the first day of senior competition and all of us would be in action. The biggest advantage of this tournament is being able to establish what works for you in a slightly lower key environment. Box encouraged ruthless selfishness in terms of preparation – stressing that we must follow whatever pattern we needed to, in order to perform on the pitch.

I had an immediate challenge – my game was not until 6.45pm. I was therefore delighted that Paul decided to get up at nine in the morning, turning on lights and packing (and repacking) bags in a ruthless display of selfishness that almost equalled my snoring the previous night.

Annika Widminter (as she had been renamed on all the appointment sheets) had an entirely different issue, facing the first of her three dawn matches – the 10am clash between Real Sociedad and Leicester. By all accounts it was an abrasive encounter, culminating in Annika’s Croatian colleague yellow carding Leicester coach Chris Mayer. (Stop smiling, please, this is serious!)

Kate had the next game on the Campo Eduardo Dualde (the premier pitch, set against the Barcelona skyline with the Camp Nou in the background), taking control of the Moscow Select Team against the Polo Ladies with NPUA colleague Laura Houlston (who was there with the EHF).

Following that was the first of the men’s matches featuring Polo Men against Belgian EuroHockey league team KHC Leuven. Jenks had travelled all this way specifically to experience everything that European hockey could throw at him – the continental tempo, the Spanish flair and the temperamental foreign colleagues... He strode onto the pitch alongside his colleague, attempting to recall where he’d met him before. As the sun shone down (and the ageing memory paused before creeping into action) the realisation dawned. This pair of Walker and Jenkins had umpired together before, in equally exotic surroundings, when Indian Gymkhana took on Bromley and Beckenham last year.

If the tournament organisers wanted a marker laying down, they got it, as our English umpire (and Jenkins the adopted Lithuanian) put in a polished performance to control a high tempo, high skill contest which was played with just the right balance of competitive edge and friendliness. There were a couple of yellows as Jenks practiced his Spanish with Polo Captain Alex Fabregas, and Polo held out for a 2-1 win, with the deciding goal a penalty stroke, awarded only after a significant pause for thought from Jenks. The ”Jenkins Pause” became a bit of a theme for the week, with every subsequent conversation containing a few well timed pauses. Even EasyJet joined in eventually, pausing substantially before allowing any aeroplanes in or out of airports.

Of course, all this time I was attempting to avoid fatigue, reclined on a leather sofa in the club drawing room, reading the paper and passing the time of day with the locals. My preparation included trying to get to know my colleague Mikel, getting my hydration right, and trying to plan when (and what) to eat. I’m not sure I was more nervous than usual, but I was certainly more focussed.

The evening came round and my game, between Club de Campo Madrid, currently second in the Spanish Premier League, and Three Rock Rovers of Dublin, got underway. It was a fascinating contest, with the Irish using their physicality to try and break up the Spanish game. However, the Madrid team, whilst equally keen on a heavy tackle, were simply too good for them putting together some sublime one touch hockey. My biggest challenge was how to maintain control of the game when my colleague didn’t seem to be reacting to a lot of the incidents in front of him. Curiously, the players seemed to time all their heavy tackles on his side of the pitch. Eventually I’d had enough and after chucking one of the Irish off for an attempted breakdown I decided I had no option but to step in at the other end of the pitch and dispatch one of the Campo defenders. His full-length diving slide between the legs of the circle-bound attacker might have touched a ball, but sadly not the one the teams had been playing with all evening.

The tournament dinner followed the game, a jacket and tie affair involving all the teams, lots of awards, speeches, singing and an invitation to a pitch opening in St Petersburg. Food, wine and hospitality were all excellent. This was also Annika’s birthday and our Spanish umpiring colleagues entertained her all evening, as well as getting the whole room to sing happy birthday to her.

Day 4 – Tuesday

Refreshed from a good night’s sleep, I was back on the pitch early (well 12ish) for the first men’s game of the day, this time between Simon Mason’s European Select Team (featuring Andrew Todd, Sander van de Weide, Andy Watts and Scott Ashdown amongst others) and the hosts Polo (including Matthias Witthaus). So just the one Olympic Gold medallist per side... no problemo.

It was a great game, in which the Euro team took a 2-0 lead, Polo got back to 2-2 and missed at least two open goals as Mason’s team fought out a draw. I umpired with Ian Diamond from Scotland and whilst we had some cards and a few moments of drama, all seemed to pass off well and both teams were happy.

The evening game once again saw the uber-reliable pairing of Jenkins and Walker take on Pedralbes and Three Rock Rovers. The Jenkins Pause was again evident. Had Walker’s whistle contained a pea, it would have been propelled halfway down Las Ramblas as Paul had blown very long and very hard just inside Jenks’ 23m area. It still took a while for the PC to be given though.

Although it was the Spanish equivalent of Christmas Eve, no one was expecting quite so many cards! The handbags were well and truly out on the pitch as six players got their marching orders for various offences (including the capital crime of two players being caught “up to something” out of the corner of Walker’s beady eye). The second “double-yellow” was a masterpiece in uncertainty, followed by some great thinking on the feet. Jenks couldn’t spot the two players involved in an altercation, but called in the Captains and effectively convinced them to manage the situation and suspend their own players. In between, the odd bit of hockey broke out and an entertaining game for the crowd ended in a 2-2 draw.

In the ladies’ competitions, Kate took charge of a 1-0 Leicester loss against the Spanish U21 side and Annika again had another early 9am start, overseeing an 11-0 win for the Spanish juniors against Leicester’s youngsters. Annika’s early morning preparation is now finely honed and that 12 o’clock push back, whether it’s at Sunderland or Exe, no longer looks quite so daunting.

In the evening, we took the opportunity to go out for a meal together. We had aimed to get into the centre of Barcelona to Set Portes, an excellent restaurant down by the port. Unfortunately, the arrival parade of the Three Kings frustrated our efforts, as the whole centre had been closed for festivities. Nonetheless, we found a very nice restaurant for dinner, some gentle fines and a few glasses of wine.

Day 5 – The Day of the Kings

Again Annika was first out of bed, but this time she had company from Jenks (out of bed, not in it). Both had 9am games and whilst Annika took on the Russians against the Spanish U21s in the senior competition, Jenks’ game was more like the morning after the night before as a rather “tired” European Select Team succumbed to Club de Campo 6-2. This meant that the Madrid team won the Men’s tournament.

Later on, Kate umpired Real Sociedad v France meaning a win for the Polo ladies overall in the Senior tournament. My game saw Pedralbes face Leuven, which ended in a comfortable 4-1 win for the Belgians in very bright low sunshine (I left the sun to my Gran Canarian colleague, whilst I stayed in the shade).

Paul finished off proceedings, umpiring the hosts on the main pitch in their final game against Three Rock Rovers with another calm, collected performance. Polo ran out very comfortable winners, but there was plenty of drama along the way to test the management skills of the umpires, including a big flare up in the last five minutes that saw Latin temper and Celtic pride crashed together. Paul was unflappable, calmed the situation and spoke to the captains before dealing with the miscreants. There could easily have been a lot more players sitting down, but common sense prevailed as the players seemed to settle, remembering the friendly atmosphere of the tournament. For Paul, this was a valuable lesson in conflict management, which will stand him in good stead should it happen again.

And that should have been it. We should have jumped on a plane after a quick debrief and headed back to sunny England. Unfortunately, snowbound Gatwick, Liverpool and EasyJet all had other ideas. So over another leisurely Polo Club lunch, we perused the various travel options.

After most tournaments, you have to leave straight away, without the opportunity to relax with colleagues, talk through incidents and debate decisions. That certainly wasn’t the case here, as the next flights most of us could get on weren’t for another two days.

Day 6 – Thursday

Colin and Kate left early for the airport and, in the nicest possible way, we hoped not to see them again. Unfortunately, they were back at the hotel by midday, EasyJet having pulled the plug on their flight at the last minute. Knowing we all had a spare day in Barcelona, we decided to explore the centre a little, taking in Gaudi’s unfinished Sagrada Familia church and wandering down Las Ramblas (in the freezing drizzle, before it starts to sound too idyllic!) before stopping for an excellent tapas lunch. The calm atmosphere was rudely interrupted by 20 minutes of pure tension as we followed England to a battling test match draw via text and very slow internet. We then meandered down to the seafront, before winding our way back through the Gothic Quarter via a few bars, where the hockey stories kept on flowing.