Hockey: Three NZ officials appointed to Olympics

Three New Zealanders will umpire at the Olympics. Photo / Hawke's Bay Today

Three New Zealand officials are heading to the London Olympics, with Sarah Garnett (50), Kelly Hudson (30) and Jason McCracken (44) appointed as umpire manager, umpire and assistant tournament director respectively.

For Garnett and McCracken it will be their third Olympics, but for Hudson it is her first appointment and she is really looking forward to the opportunity.

"The appointment to the panel of 17 umpires for the Olympic Games is amazing,'' said Hudson, who has been umpiring hockey since 1998. "It is the pinnacle of achievement in any sport and a dream to be a part of the buzz, which is already around for the London Games. It is the achievement of a lot of hard work and significant sacrifice.''

McCracken has had a rapid rise in FIH status and has achieved his first Olympic assistant technical director appointment after only five years operating at an FIH technical level.

"It's an absolute highlight to be appointed as assistant tournament director. This is my first appointment in this role and enables me to be involved in all aspects of the tournament in regard to media, athlete management and medical health. I really enjoy that aspect,'' he said.

Garnett, although appointed to an Olympic Games before as an umpire, has never been appointed as an umpire manager and is looking forward to the challenge.

"This is a huge privilege for me to be appointed as one of the women umpire manager's at the Olympics,'' Garnett said. "I was at the Athens and Beijing Olympics as one of the umpires and after umpiring the semifinal at Beijing, I retired after 100 test matches. So to come back and do a third Olympics is a huge thrill for me.''

She has also been appointed to the Olympic qualifier in India in February in the same role.