| EWL Prem |
ERHUA |
| EWL 1N, 1S |
CHUA |
| EML Prem A, Prem B |
ERHUA |
| EML 1, 2N, 2S |
CHUA |
For each team playing in EWL Premier and in EML Prem A and Prem B, a club must provide either a level 2 umpire to the ERHUA pool or an appropriately qualified umpire to its CHUA pool.
For each team playing in EWL Div 1N and Div 1S and EML Div 1, 2N, and 2S a club must provide an appropriately qualified umpire to its CHUA pool on a weekly basis.
(1) The umpire provided must be named to the pool organiser in time for inclusion in published pool sheets, but need not be the same umpire each week (late changes to umpires are acceptable when club or personal circumstances change);
(2) An umpire promoted to regular appointments in the National League will count towards these requirements only in the season of promotion;
(3) If a club is contributing more umpires to the ERHUA pool than is required by this rule, any requirement it may have to also contribute umpires to a county pool will be reduced by one;
(4) To minimize travel, the home CHUA may appoint both umpires;
(5) Umpires will not normally be appointed to their own clubs.
(6) If there is no County Pool in a county, any requirement in these rules for a club to provide umpires to a pool are waived.
A pool may refuse umpires to a club that regularly fails to provide umpires to the pool, or that fails to provide start and venue information as required under Rule 4.2. If an umpire is not provided for such a disciplinary reason to a match in a division listed in the Table above, whether or not actually played using another umpire, the league will review the circumstances and may award the result of the match against the offending club. Persistently offending clubs may incur further penalties at the discretion of League Management.
5.1.2 Other Divisions: CHUA pools with sufficient resources may wish to cover additional lower divisions. If a division spans more than one county, it will be acceptable for it to be pool umpired in one county whilst being club umpired or mixed pool/club umpired in another county (probably on a two-home umpire basis). Local arrangements must take precedence. Clubs should accept that umpiring arrangements may differ between counties, and should support their local CHUA pools as fully as possible. The League Management Committee will work together with CHUA's to agree additional coverage arrangements before a season starts.
5.1.3 Umpiring Liaison Officers: Clubs must appoint an Umpiring Liaison Officer (ULO) with whom ERHUA and CHUA Pool Secretaries will communicate on the provision of umpires for matches. Details of the Club ULO must be included in the club's annual application to join the League. The ULO must operate according to the ULO job definition document as published by the ERHUA, and must always have a current email address.
5.2 Club appointed umpires. When the ERHUA and CHUA are unable to appoint to a match, the opposing clubs must provide suitably qualified umpires. All club umpires officiating in East League matches must be full Level 1 for matches in divisions 3NE, 4NW, 6SE, and 4SW and above, and in other divisions the umpire may be either Level 1 or Probationer Level 1 (having passed the Level 1 examination but not yet been assessed and graded).
Clubs must confirm before the start of the season that they have at least two Level 1 umpires per East League team, of which up to half may be Probationers. Before the start of the season, all clubs must provide a complete list of their Level 1 and Probationer Level 1 umpires to the Leagues using a system on the East Hockey website, including Level 1 registration numbers. This list must be kept up to date during the season. All such umpires should be paid-up members of their CHUA. Using a club umpire that has not been listed or is not a CHUA member will result in the match being awarded to the opposing side.
5.3 Umpire Replacements. When an umpire unexpectedly fails to fulfill an appointment, the captains of both sides shall endeavour to find an appropriate replacement and thus fulfill the fixture. If a Level One umpire is required and only an unqualified umpire is available but is acceptable to both teams, the match may proceed. If both captains cannot reach an agreement regarding a replacement umpire prior to the start of the game, the League fixture must be rearranged. If a replacement umpire is used, a written explanation of the circumstances must be sent by the home team and received by their League Manager within seven days of the date of the match. If the problem arose from a genuine late withdrawal by an appointed umpire, the League Committee subsequently may consider to apply no penalty.
5.4 Umpires and League Rules. In no circumstances should umpires be asked to adjudicate on League rules.
5.5 Changing Umpires during a Match Except in the case of incapacity, or of a temporary umpire being used whilst the appointed umpire arrives, umpires may not be changed during any match in the EWL nor in any match in the EML in Divisions 4NE, 4NW, 5SE, and 5SW and above. Any change of umpire during a game in a lower EML division can only take place with the agreement of both captains made prior to the start of the game, the umpires cannot be rotated with rolling substitutes, and there can only be one such change during a match.
