Ashley Kelland (left) and Stephen McLachlan were charged with umpiring the final at the national under-18 men’s association tournament last week. Photo supplied.When Wellington took on Canterbury in the final of hockey’s national under-18 association tournament last week, a former Ashburton man was sideline making the tough calls and ensuring the rules were adhered to.

After a strong showing with the whistle throughout the tournament at North Harbour, Ashley Kelland was picked as one of the two umpires to control the tournament’s feature game, which was won by Wellington, 1-0.

For Kelland, who attended Ashburton College but moved to Christchurch at the beginning of last year to study law, it was one of the biggest umpiring opportunities that had come his way so far and was hopeful it would be a stepping stone to bigger and better things.

He said it was hard to know what the future held, but in hockey there were options aplenty.

World Cups, Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games were options one day, but for now Kelland is just taking it one step at a time and with the under-18 tournament done he has turned his attention back to the final few weeks of the Christchurch club hockey season.

Kelland took up umpiring about six years ago. He used to play hockey too and was a member of the Ashburton College First XI when he was at school but gave away the playing side of the sport when he started at university because it would have been too much on top of studying and umpiring.

He umpires at least two or three times most weeks, officiating in division one, secondary school, junior men’s and the occasional premier grade game.

“I wasn’t a great player but sometimes I miss it, but then I think I wouldn’t stop umpiring to play again,” Kelland said.

Being an umpire or a referee in any sport isn’t always the easiest job. If you get a call wrong, you hear about it, and often the umpire becomes the scapegoat for players, coaches and supporters.

For Kelland though, that was just part of the job and the more experienced he got, the better equipped he was at dealing with that side of it.

“You can get some very passionate players, that would be a good way to describe it, especially in the high intensity games or the school games, they can be quite intense,” Kelland said.

Coaches and supporters could also get a bit excited and throw a few words in an umpire’s direction.

“I think you need to have a thick-ish skin. You have to ignore some stuff but besides that you don’t have to have a certain kind of personality to be a hockey umpire,” he said.

“You can be quite chilled and relaxed and go out there and have fun, or you can be strict and serious, you just can’t let what people say get to you. I think the more you get used to it, the more you are able to ignore it and the better you manage it.”

The next big test for Kelland will come in Tauranga in a couple of months’ time. He’s been asked back to umpire at his second Rankin Cup, the top secondary school tournament in New Zealand.

Last year, at his first Rankin Cup, Kelland said he didn’t fare so well, but an umpire development official who watched him at the under-18 tournament last week told him he was impressed with how far he’d come.

So Kelland is hopeful when the Rankin Cup hits itsfinal stages this year, he’ll be in the mix for some of the big games.

Last week’s association under-18 tournament was effectively the second-tier national tournament, and ahead of that was the regional tournament which was held in Dunedin and featured the country’s eight main regions.

Next year, Kelland hopes he’ll be making the step up to that tournament, and from there he has his sights set on possible roles at under-21s and even the National Hockey League (NHL).

“But it’s quite competitive, so I don’t know how far I’ll go. If I get all the way to the NHL, then I guess I get to the NHL,” he said.

By Erin Tasker © The Ashburton Guardian - 19 July 2018