Scottish umpire Irene Clelland retires from international umpiring

 

Scottish umpire Irene Clelland has decided to hang up her whistle as an international umpire following the FIH Indoor World Cup this month.
Commenting on her decision to retire as an umpire, Clelland said, “I’ve been umpiring internationally for over 15 years and during the past few years I’ve stopped enjoying it as much as I used to. I always said when I stopped enjoying it I should stop and now just feels like the right time.
“World level tournaments can be over two weeks long and it just feels like too much time for me to be away. If I continued to persevere and accept appointments I would be taking the place of an umpire who really wanted to be there and I think that’s unfair to everyone involved.”
Since her and wife Dino Willox moved to Australia in 2011, they have both incurred significant expenses and investment of time travelling to appointed tournaments in Europe, a cost that according to Clelland is not sustainable.
With a record of umpired 54 indoor international matches and 66 outdoor international matches, Clelland is one of Scotland’s most decorated officials and recalls a number of career highlights over the last 15 years, “I umpired the Germany v Netherlands in 2005, which was their first meeting since the Olympic final in 2004, where Germany won. It was my first time umpiring each team and it was a pretty special experience”, said Clelland.
“Being put on the list for the Road to London/Hague/Rio, umpiring at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the 2009 Junior World Cup and the 2013 Euro Nations, where I umpired the final.
“Two indoor World Cups and achieving 50 indoor caps has also been a highlight. It’s very difficult to achieve this in indoor and I’ve been lucky to have been afforded this opportunity. The EHF were particularly supportive of me, publishing a story on their website during the indoor World Cup.”
“In the 2011 Champions Challenge I was privileged to be part of two special games. I was reserve when the South African Olympic umpire Marelize De Klerk reached 200 senior international games and I was umpiring South Africa v USA when Peitie Coetzee, the South African player, broke the world record for the number of international goals scored, taking her tally to 221 goals.”
Her favourite moment in hockey, however, was one close to her heart, “Without question it was the tournament Euro Nations in 2013. I umpired the final and the game had everything in it, including a video referral in the last few minutes following a goal which brought England level with Germany.
“My wife Dino [Willox] was the video umpire in that game which made it even more special. During the tournament I also was lucky enough to umpire a game with Dino. I might be wrong but I’m fairly sure we are the first married couple to umpire together at an international tournament.
“Off the pitch there have been so many moments. I have made lifetime friendships with people from all over the world and travelled to cities (and countries) I would never have seen without hockey.”
The hockey world hasn’t seen the last of Irene Clelland though, with the possibility of umpire management and video umpiring in the pipeline, “I’m going to take six months away from umpiring domestically to see if I miss it. If I do I’ll continue to umpire in the Brisbane league. I’m been appointed to the U15’s Australian National outdoor tournament in April as an Umpires Manager, that will help me decide if I enjoy that aspect of the game.
I do want to continue to contribute to the sport as it has given me so many life opportunities but I’m undecided yet about how I do this. Until I decide I might relax for a while and plan my first family holiday in, eh… yes, plan my first family holiday!”
Of course, there are many individuals back home she wishes to thank for their support, “Janice MacDonald & Aileen Ross who were the main supports early on and throughout my development in my career.
“Norrie Urquhart, Ged Curran and Martin Madden who have been ongoing support during and in between international tournaments, and most recently Jan Hadfield, in Brisbane who has continued to mentor me since my move to Australia.
“I also want to thank Sarah Wilson – her outdoor career is going from strength to strength and she is a very exceptional talent – She withdrew from the Indoor World Cup due to outdoor commitments and as a reserve, I was called up and this allowed me to achieve my 50th Indoor cap and retire with my friends around me.”

Scottish umpire Irene Clelland has decided to hang up her whistle as an international umpire following the FIH Indoor World Cup this month.

710x400xIrene-710x400_jpg_pagespeed_ic_-4V3L1e9RA

(Scottish umpire Irene Clelland, centre, at FIH Indoor World Cup earlier this month. Photo Credit: EHF)

Commenting on her decision to retire as an umpire, Clelland said, “I’ve been umpiring internationally for over 15 years and during the past few years I’ve stopped enjoying it as much as I used to. I always said when I stopped enjoying it I should stop and now just feels like the right time.

“World level tournaments can be over two weeks long and it just feels like too much time for me to be away. If I continued to persevere and accept appointments I would be taking the place of an umpire who really wanted to be there and I think that’s unfair to everyone involved.”

Since her and wife Dino Willox moved to Australia in 2011, they have both incurred significant expenses and investment of time travelling to appointed tournaments in Europe, a cost that according to Clelland is not sustainable.

With a record of umpired 54 indoor international matches and 66 outdoor international matches, Clelland is one of Scotland’s most decorated officials and recalls a number of career highlights over the last 15 years, “I umpired the Germany v Netherlands in 2005, which was their first meeting since the Olympic final in 2004, where Germany won. It was my first time umpiring each team and it was a pretty special experience”, said Clelland.

“Being put on the list for the Road to London/Hague/Rio, umpiring at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the 2009 Junior World Cup and the 2013 Euro Nations, where I umpired the final.

“Two indoor World Cups and achieving 50 indoor caps has also been a highlight. It’s very difficult to achieve this in indoor and I’ve been lucky to have been afforded this opportunity. The EHF were particularly supportive of me, publishing a story on their website during the indoor World Cup.”

“In the 2011 Champions Challenge I was privileged to be part of two special games. I was reserve when the South African Olympic umpire Marelize De Klerk reached 200 senior international games and I was umpiring South Africa v USA when Peitie Coetzee, the South African player, broke the world record for the number of international goals scored, taking her tally to 221 goals.”

Her favourite moment in hockey, however, was one close to her heart, “Without question it was the tournament Euro Nations in 2013. I umpired the final and the game had everything in it, including a video referral in the last few minutes following a goal which brought England level with Germany.

“My wife Dino [Willox] was the video umpire in that game which made it even more special. During the tournament I also was lucky enough to umpire a game with Dino. I might be wrong but I’m fairly sure we are the first married couple to umpire together at an international tournament.

“Off the pitch there have been so many moments. I have made lifetime friendships with people from all over the world and travelled to cities (and countries) I would never have seen without hockey.”

The hockey world hasn’t seen the last of Irene Clelland though, with the possibility of umpire management and video umpiring in the pipeline, “I’m going to take six months away from umpiring domestically to see if I miss it. If I do I’ll continue to umpire in the Brisbane league. I’m been appointed to the U15’s Australian National outdoor tournament in April as an Umpires Manager, that will help me decide if I enjoy that aspect of the game.

I do want to continue to contribute to the sport as it has given me so many life opportunities but I’m undecided yet about how I do this. Until I decide I might relax for a while and plan my first family holiday in, eh… yes, plan my first family holiday!”

Of course, there are many individuals back home she wishes to thank for their support, “Janice MacDonald & Aileen Ross who were the main supports early on and throughout my development in my career.

“Norrie Urquhart, Ged Curran and Martin Madden who have been ongoing support during and in between international tournaments, and most recently Jan Hadfield, in Brisbane who has continued to mentor me since my move to Australia.

“I also want to thank Sarah Wilson – her outdoor career is going from strength to strength and she is a very exceptional talent – She withdrew from the Indoor World Cup due to outdoor commitments and as a reserve, I was called up and this allowed me to achieve my 50th Indoor cap and retire with my friends around me.”

 

Recent posts:

Back to all news
Back to top