The FIH Umpire of the Year was awarded by New Zealand’s Amber Church and the Netherlands’ Coen Van Bunge

WORLD CUP NEWS : The FIH Officials Committee has selected New Zealand’s Amber Church and the Netherlands’ Coen Van Bunge as the FIH Umpires of the Year 2021-22.

With her first international match officiated in 2009, Amber Church has established herself as one of the greatest umpires in the world and is now a prolific international hockey match official. On May 15, 2022, when officiating a test match between the Australian and New Zealand women’s teams, she made her one hundredth international match appearance.

After an outstanding showing in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Amber was able to start up exactly where she left off in the next 2021-22 hockey season, maintaining her top fitness and performance levels the whole time.

FIH Umpire of the Year

Amber is widely valued not just by her colleagues but also by the players she referees. In 2021, Hockey New Zealand honored her as Umpire of the Year, recognizing her for her work both on and off the field to assist other officials develop their talents.

Amber attended the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, and served as an official at the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup in Spain and the Netherlands. She proved herself worthy of the Finals match at the Women’s World Cup and the Women’s finals at the Commonwealth Games by giving outstanding performances in both competitions, making her a deserving recipient of the FIH Umpire of the Year 2021-22 award (female).

Amber Church

When it comes to hockey referees on the world stage, few are as well-known as Coen Van Bunge. With over 100 international appearances as an on-field umpire and another 75+ as a video umpire, his reputation as one of the top umpires of all time is well established at this stage in his 15-year international career.

But maybe Coen’s most important contribution is the teaching position he has had at the FIH since April of 2020. For many years to come, hockey will benefit from his dedication to expanding the number of qualified officials on the ice at all levels.

Coen had another strong season as an umpire in the FIH Hockey Pro League, and in August he was selected to officiate the Men’s Indoor Asia Cup final in Bangkok. Here, too, he held many sessions for the benefit of the Asian umpires during the competition.

Coen Van Bunge

Coen hosted a number of umpiring seminars and coaching sessions for young fans at the Women’s World Cup in Amstelveen, perhaps encouraging the future generation of umpires to pursue Olympic aspirations.