Gisborne's Amber Church gets close to the action in an international hockey game between Korea and Belgium in Glasgow, Scotland in 2014.
GISBORNE’s Amber Church is going to Rio for the 2016 Olympic Games. The 27-year-old Te Hapara School teacher has been chosen as one of the 16 women to umpire hockey games.
“It’s still not sunk in and I don’t suppose it will until I’m there in August,” Church said. “It’s like a fairytale come true. Brazil is where I got my international badge, in 2010 at a Pan America tournament.”
Following performances in 2012, Church was one of 45 umpires chosen by Federation International Hockey (FIH) for their “Road to The Hague/Road to Rio” group.
“It was a group the FIH thought had the potential to umpire at the world cup in the Netherlands last year, and or at the Olympics. I can’t believe it. I’m one of the least experienced umpires in the 16.”
The group includes another New Zealander, Kelly Hudson, from Tauranga.
“Some of the other female umpires will be going to their fourth Olympics so I’m a small fish in a big pond. But the FIH officials must have thought I was up to it.”
Receiving the confirmationChurch received confirmation of her selection by email.
“It’s quite funny actually. I didn’t know when the umpires were going to be announced, just that it would be before the end of this year, so I went to bed without checking my email.
“But around 4.30am I got up to start getting ready for my early-morning run. I opened my email and saw one from FIH’s Richard Wilson with the subheading Men’s and Women’s XXXl Olympic Games.
“I sort of thought that it had to be good news. I couldn’t imagine him emailing those who had missed out with that subheading. By then, others had seen the news and I already had emails and text messages congratulating me. But I was still half asleep when I read it and had to read it a couple of times just to make sure it said I was going to Rio.”
Church’s partner, Craig Christophers, was the first to congratulate her in person before she met another FIH international umpire, Jo Cumming, her running mate.
“Jo was excited for me and said I deserved it, which meant a lot to me. Strangely, the adrenalin wasn’t going how I imagined it would be and it wasn’t until I got to school that the emotions started.
“Some of my work colleagues were really excited for me and that set me off. When I told my class, all the kids clapped and cheered.”
At the OlympicsThe Olympics start on August 2 but Church will be there on August 1.
“There is a bunch of briefings on how we are to conduct ourselves, what to do and what not to do that we have to take part in. It’s quite a lengthy process but necessary to make sure everyone is umpiring to the highest standard.
“We might not be at the opening ceremony; I don’t know many details yet but I do know we can attend the closing ceremony, at our own expense. But there’s no way I am going there and not attending the closing ceremony.”
PreparationWith 10 months to go before she leaves for Brazil, Church said she was not going to wrap herself in cotton wool, but would continue to umpire local hockey games and play hockey for Paikea women and football for United.
“I think if I did that there would be more risk of being injured so I’ll carry on as usual, doing what I normally do. I’ll run with Jo for an hour three times a week, go to the gym three times a week and go to my sports team training sessions.”
Church — who started umpiring at 15 and got her junior badge when she was 16 — said she would continue her usual match umpiring philosophy at the Olympics.
“I’m there to serve the game, not myself. It doesn’t matter what level I’m umpiring. The game is about the players, not the umpires.”
Having said that, she admitted she was looking forward to umpiring in Brazil.
“This is one of the biggest tournaments in the world and it’s going to give me some wonderful memories. It’s obviously the pinnacle of any hockey umpire’s career and at 27 it’s possible that I could go to more Olympics. Hockey umpires are not required to retire until they are 47.”
A highlight so farChurch said umpiring at the FIH world finals in Antwerp, Belgium, in June, including the final between Netherlands and Korea was a highlight, even if it did come at a cost.
“I was watching New Zealand play and someone said to me, ‘You’ll be hoping New Zealand lose,’ otherwise I couldn’t do the final. But there was no way I wanted the Blacks Sticks to lose. They come first. I would rather they made the final and I missed out on umpiring it.
“But when they lost, it meant I had a chance of umpiring it. I never thought it would happen but it did. I was appointed to the final and in front of a packed stadium, around 5000, the Netherlands beat Korea 2-1 with a goal in the last minute.”
Church said it was “pretty amazing” that Gisborne could have two international umpires.
“Jo did the national hockey league women’s final recently and she is going to the Oceania tournament in Stratford next month.”