Hoci Cymru would like to congratulate Abby MacArthur on her appointment as an umpire for the Indoor Hockey World Cup set to take place in Croatia next year.
Now a stalwart presence at Cardiff & Met Hockey Club, Abby has held a passion for the sport since she was eight and boasts multiple feathers in her cap alongside her refereeing accolades.
Edging into her 25th season with Cardiff & Met Hockey Club, Abby has worn many different hats within the club; a first-team player firstly, she eventually became the Ladies’ Chair and oversaw the merger between Cardiff Athletic and Cardiff Met University.
During her time with the club, Abby has also picked up a whistle of course, embarking on a journey that would take her to the highest of heights in indoor hockey umpiring.
She obtained her Level 1 Umpire qualification prior to starting university in 2001 and has since collected a whole host of memorable experiences as an indoor umpire, although always appreciates grassroots indoor hockey in Wales as well as the top-level opportunities.
“I have a real passion for indoor hockey in Wales,” Abby told us. “Last year’s resurrection of the Indoor League and Championships was superbly coordinated and there was so much engagement from clubs. It was great to see the love for the indoor game at a local level.”
It was brilliant to have Abby involved in the tournament as an umpire mentor as well as an official, proving a valuable presence for eager club umpires that were taking up the indoor game for the first time.
Alongside the local-level competition, Abby can also draw upon great experience at renowned events.
“I can list a couple of incredible tournaments,” Abby explained, “including my first European Indoor Championships in Hamburg in 2022, and experiencing the excitement of English Indoor Premiership finals.”
It’s been a long journey to have now been selected for the Indoor Hockey World Cup in February.
Having taken up her first European umpiring appointment in 2015 at the Indoor Women’s EuroHockey Club Challenge in Ankara, Turkey, she was subsequently awarded her FIH International Badge and hasn’t looked back.
Her umpiring duties have since taken her to the likes of France, Slovenia, Belgium, Portugal and Germany, as well as officiating domestic action.
“Those opportunities certainly opened my eyes to just how much I could travel as an umpire, albeit only to see the inside of a sports hall!!
“After four or five years on the European circuit, I was persuaded to step over the bridge into the English Premiership set-up. I remember a lot of the English umpires asking where on Earth I’d just landed from as I was relatively unknown to them and had a meteoric rise almost straight onto the A* (top) panel.
“I love that I cut my teeth on the Wales Indoor League and learned my trade at the Challenge-level European tournaments.”
Abby’s rise is all the more surprising considering, for a long while, she had little ambition of progressing as a referee while she still tried to balance those duties with playing.
In recent years, however, things have “fallen into place”.
“In the past three years I’ve suddenly realised I wanted to be at the top of my game with my indoor umpiring career,” she told Hoci Cymru.
“I wanted to be at the English Premiership finals, and I wanted to go to the Euros and umpire the top nations in medal games! And all of a sudden, the Indoor World Cup was on my radar; it blew my mind that it was an actual possibility that I could be in the mix.”
But Abby was very much in the mix, and indeed got the call to make a certain day all the more special.
“I got the appointment email on my birthday while sipping Sangria in Spain; what a birthday present! I don’t think I realised quite how much I wanted it until I got confirmation. I think I went a little dizzy, then cried a bit, then opened a bottle of fizz or two!”
A rapid rise now sees Abby head off to Croatia next year.
“I’m a little star-struck that this is all happening to me as It’s not something that I’ve dreamt about for very long. I’m so excited to be going, to soak up the atmosphere, see some world class indoor hockey, interact with some world class players and spend some time with my extended FIH hockey family.
“This is the pinnacle of my entire umpiring career. I’ll be retired as an international umpire before the next Indoor World Cup so this will forever be the best appointment of my career.
“We’ll have to wait and see if it rivals any of the others for fun, camaraderie and atmosphere, but I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be electric and I’ll forever be able to say I was there as an Indoor World Cup umpire!”
