So, in all honesty, MCP is not for everyone. If you are happy with the level you are umpiring at, don’t buy MCP. That is ok! You might even be doing most of the principles that this course outlines. I mean heck all the current FIH graded umpires reached that level without MCP. The difference is there is a limit you will reach without the MCP course. Not all of us (myself included) can umpire at the FIH level, so we don’t have access to that mindset of positioning.

MCP allows you to achieve success to a degree you probably will not or cannot achieve on your own. If you watch enough WUW and you are active enough on the discord server, you might pick up on a few principles, but trust me, it is not as enlightening as the course itself. I was educated and trained to listen to what people say and pick up what they don’t say, so I have been following a few principles for a while. But trust me it wasn’t enough to change my umpiring as the completion of MCP has.
The mindset you develop will change how you umpire, and the degree of comfort you have while umpiring will change how you view umpiring. You will enjoy it more, and you will be better at it. At the end of the day, that is why we do it. That is what our sport needs—people who share the love of the sport and want it to prosper.

Also, you never know; upon completion of the MCP course, you might have a perspective regarding a principle that none of us have (no one has your history, no one can add what you can, you are unique), thus adding to the richness of MCP. This is a community thing we should try and develop it. That in itself is time well spent.

4th week on MCP.

Number of times over sideline = 0.
Number of times caught out getting into circle to receive the attacking play = 0.

This s**t is good.

I applied MCP during the six indoor matches I umpired in the past two weeks and thought I'd share my experience. In the initial two matches, I occasionally stepped outside the boards and moved up high as I was used to, aiming to gain a better vantage point in that high corner. However, returning to the inside position from there was somewhat uncomfortable (to put it mildly). In the subsequent matches, I made a pact with myself to remain inside and see what would happen. It was a great experience —I was notably better positioned when play approached me. Even when the action was high on the opposite half, I felt firmly in control and prepared for any change in possession. I also felt very well positioned to assist my colleague in their circle. The only exceptions were perhaps two or three instances when play was in the corner high on my side, and players moved between me and the ball. This would pose less of an issue if your colleague positioned themselves inside as well, moving up or down from their backline for a better view. However, if they stay outside the boards, there's a bigger chance of missing something. I hope this clarifies things. There will likely always be a trade-off, but for me, adopting MCP positioning indoors has proven a very effective and enjoyable experience.

Hi Keely, just want to let you know tried the hockey stick running out at the weekend. Holly smokes it’s amazing total control and really see what is going on (thought the goals think I am a bit mad when they kept hearing me mutter “happy place”). Need to finish the rest of the course which will be this week but MCP is so cool. Thank you for coming up with it.

I found the course really enjoyable and insightful. First time ever seeing a course implemented through Discord like this. I was sceptical at first, but it actually worked quite nicely. As others mentioned, I would've just liked a way to "track" my progress, but then again, I finished the course in like an hour as I wanted to test it out in my game yesterday.

To my surprise, MCP felt quite familiar. One of my mentors in our league (FIH umpire) suggested end of last year that I should try not do the button hook when going to my happy place so that part I already got sorted. I was using a mixture of old school and MCP without even realising. Inside my 23m, I was doing MCP, but outside I was very old school as I couldn't figure out how to position myself properly inside the field without getting caught. So I naturally drifted outwards the further I went up to support my colleague.

While working through the videos, it was as if a light bulb went on during the section about keeping the furthest attacker within your vision. Suddenly I could stay more infield and confidently read when I had to start running back to my happy place. I felt confident in each overhead that came my way. I never felt as if I had to run hard to get ahead of the play, and I just generally felt more aware of what was happening because I had a view on most of the players most of the time. I think I had to turn my body and look over my shoulder once during the game, and that was after a miss trap during a PC where I was the supporting umpire.

So after only one game I can already attest that MCP is amazing. Granted the game was with an umpire that I had the confidence in to be able to try MCP, and I feel I also didn't have to change too much as I was already sort of using MCP. Only now I actually knew how to set myself up for success. Awesome stuff Keely!

FHUmpires is the number 1 resource for being a better hockey umpire. The video and livestream content is not just compelling to watch, but insightful and illuminating. The courses are incredibly informative and full of useful ways to think not just about hockey, but also how we can approach situations with an open, thoughtful mind. The community is a strong and powerful resource, with like-minded, sympathetic and driven people who want the best possible hockey to flourish, and to provide useful support for all its members. Without a doubt, FHUmpires and Keely have changed my life for the better, supporting me in all my endeavours as an outdoor umpire, an indoor umpire, a technical offical and as a person in general. I couldn't wish for a more amazing network of friends than those made here 💙

I’ve always wanted to constantly improve my umpiring. I’ve found it frustrating the apparent lack of resources or support out there for umpires. So basically I’ve had to figure a lot of things out for myself. But in terms of positioning, I’ve concluded a while back that running a J hook down the line was often not the right approach. But equally I’ve been concerned that I’m not doing the standard thing and had people occasionally ask me what I wasn’t running the line.

So the discovery of FHumpires was an amazing moment for me. Then MCP was one of those moments (I can picture Keely doing “mind blown” hand gesture) - so coming inside is okay. In fact I can do it more than I’ve been doing until now. This is so great.

Big thank you to Keely for all the content she creates and confidence it gave me to get into umpiring.

Without all the great stuff you do I really would not have tried umpiring as it all looked really opaque and too complicated. You make it understandable, accessible and demystify the whole thing.

Had my first big gig(for me) on Monday at the Schools u18s T4 East Regional Finals as the representative umpire for the local school. That was only possible because of Keely, Fhumpires and the Discord community that are always supportive and positive.

Highly recommend the Mission Critical Positioning online course which I did last week. Really helped me to keep ahead of the rather quick 18yo boys.

Next up need to figure out what is required for L2 and whether it is something I could do but I know there is a community around me to help me along.

Big BIG thank you Keely!!!

Want to not run as far but still be in the right place for the important decisions? Then MCP is for you (actually it is also for you if you like running further than you need to...).

I just wanted to say thank you for the excellent Mission Critical Positioning course, the lessons of which I put into practice this morning (so much so I was standing on the centre spot at one point, although still closer to my circle than the most advanced attacker!).

@fhumpires Great testimonial and a fair one. Mission Critical Positioning from @fhumpires is a must do course for aspiring hockey umpires everywhere. From personal experience as done it twice. 1st for me as umpire & then to help as developer.

#alwayslearning #fhu3t #umpiring #hockey

Umpired a cracking 2-2 draw between @GBHockey women and @MarlowHC men’s 1s last night, and can confirm:
1. matches like this can be enjoyable and valuable for everyone
2. Positioning advice from my 1:1 with @fhumpires really helped
3. I can just about walk this morning

Fully recommend the positioning workshop - been putting the lessons into action since we started the season and it really helps!

I recently decided to umpire on an appointed basis after having been a club umpire for the last 15 years. Whilst looking around on the internet I stumbled across FHUmpires and am so thankful I did. The weekly YouTube videos along with the discord server are great for making you think and exploring ideas with other like-minded individuals. I recently signed up for the mission-critical positioning course which really opened my eyes to how I umpire. Using the techniques I learned, my umpiring and game management have taken a huge leap forward. I cannot praise Keely and the community enough and would recommend it to anybody interested in umpiring.

I 'binge-watched' the MCP course on Thursday -thank you. I really enjoyed it and it clarified and qualified a bunch of things I'm currently doing and trying improve. I already had a chance to put some of the ideas into place and it worked out really well!

I'm a mid level umpire in our state competition, so I can do up to almost the highest level in local comp, but more likely a few steps lower most weekends. I was lucky last year to get involved in a private tournament with overseas clubs and tour groups playing, which got me the invite back this year.

The standard in some of these matches is well above what I usually cover, so a few of your 'tricks' in the D, especially the flashing up from the baseline, worked well and I was quietly chuffed thinking - "hey, that thing works!".

Post-tournament notes:
I worked with an exemplary top-level umpire who commented that my positioning was spot on (for the match level). So ... thank you! I was also able to cover a missing Tier 1 ump and had a really positive experience with the game / teams / and co-ump.

Just tried MCP for the first time with 2 P2 men's games today.
Initial thoughts.
AMAAAAAAAAAAAZING.
Both games I didn't come closer than 5-7 metres to the sideline. Felt gooooood being in-field and deeper with no attackers behind.
Did a few good flashes off the circle baseline to get angles. Worked well.
Communicated with the other umpire when I needed to hoof it back and when we were transferring control. He said it was the best comms he'd had and thought we were perfectly synced.
More to come once I've had a chance to review.

A lot of this from years of experience but also a big shout out to @keelydunn & her Mission Critical Positioning sessions though @fhumpires
Helped me & now helping others in @SCOfficiating and across the world.

#thirdteam #umpiring #fh3t

Fully recommend the positioning workshop - been putting the lessons into action since we started the season and it really helps!