Church the female umpire of the year

TOP UMPIRE, AGAIN: Gisborne hockey umpire Amber Church has been named the New Zealand Female Hockey Umpire of the Year. This is the fifth time she has won the award. File picture

GISBORNE hockey umpire Amber Church is the New Zealand Female Hockey Umpire of the Year for the fifth time.

The award was announced in Auckland last night.

“I’m humbled to be acknowledged among a good group of hockey umpires in New Zealand,” Church said.

Church has been around the international hockey scene since 2013, when she umpired her first international match.

She went on to umpire at her first Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and will umpire at the postponed Tokyo Olympics.

Church was first named the New Zealand female umpire of the year in 2014.

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