I first met Mike in the late ‘80s when we were playing in the same team at Chalfont St Peter hockey club. I was Right Back and Mike was playing just outside me, at Right Half. Mike as a hockey player was a reflection of what many of us found out in his life … reliable, hard-working and always there when you needed him!

In the summer of 1993, while Mike was both Secretary and Treasurer of the Hockey Club, a ladies team was formed. Mike initially stepped forward to take on an administrative role to ensure all their registration requirements and obligations were fulfilled.

After a successful first season of friendly fixtures, the ladies were keen to enter the local league and this is when Mike “the umpire” (as so many knew him best) originated! The hockey league required each team to provide a qualified umpire for their matches and so, in the summer of 1994, Mike got himself trained up and qualified to be that umpire! Not one to shirk away when needed the most, Mike’s true colours again shone through.

Later that season, I happened to become coach of the ladies team and so started to get to know Mike much better than before - this carried on over the next 23 years as our respective umpiring & coaching careers became intrinsically entwined. Although a model of consistency & fairness in his umpiring, Mike still got great satisfaction watching the ladies team progress.

My unending memory of Mike in that first season of league hockey was following a closely fought win against local rivals Gerrards Cross. Back at the clubhouse, while we sat around savouring the moment, I remember Mike with a massive grin on his face for ages … a match he recalled several times in later years as the point when the team had “arrived”! He was never one to seek praise but you could sense the great pride Mike felt in what he had helped achieve.

The ladies team progressed up the divisions over the coming seasons and got good coverage in the local press including a few visits from the press photographer, which Mike had arranged. Although Mike always managed to elude the photographer’s lens, the quality of his umpiring did not go unnoticed!

The top division in the local hockey leagues had neutral Umpires appointed for their matches and so the local Umpires Committee were always on the lookout for new talent … and Mike certainly fitted the bill. However, with continued loyalty to the ladies team, Mike ensured that his Umpiring appointments did not clash with their fixtures or that, at least, an alternative umpire for their matches was found first.       

Mike had also been the Fixture Secretary for the team over the previous 3 years but the next 3 years were to be quite different. In 1999, after studying German at Night School, Mike went to live & work in Germany. To help immerse himself in his new environment, Mike naturally got involved in umpiring and found a further new experience as, during their cold winters, the Germans focussed on playing hockey indoors.

As you would expect, Mike stayed in touch with how the hockey team was getting on back home but obviously without the full-on involvement as before.

Mike returned to live & work in the UK in 2002 and found that his ladies team had been part of a merger with another local hockey club. It didn’t take long for Mike to be totally involved again in the new & larger Amersham & Chalfont Hockey Club, taking on some new administrative roles as well as picking up where he had left of with his umpiring commitments.

The new club’s top ladies team had now reached the same level that Mike was umpiring at and so Mike was no longer the regular umpire for their league matches. However, I was able to use this to my advantage as a coach! Although obviously continuing to umpire in his totally impartial way, Mike was a great help by giving feedback on the teams he umpired in the same division which could then be used to help prepare for upcoming games against those opponents!

Mike was now also umpiring games at the next level up but the Umpires Committee felt Mike was good enough to go even higher! However, Mike declined, whether as a slight unfounded lack of self-belief … or not wanting to incur potentially longer travel days which moved him further from his hockey roots, I don’t know – but the Umpiring Committee’s loss certainly meant his hockey club would continue to benefit from his umpiring.

When the Ladies teams were required to provide TWO umpires for weekly League Appointments, unperturbed, Mike stepped forward and, as generous as ever with his time, said he would now commit to umpire TWO League matches each Saturday! This did not stop Mike still helping his club out whenever possible by either doing a third game late in the day or perhaps fitting in a club away match near to one of his other League appointments. Mike’s support of his club was tireless!

Mike really enjoyed umpiring the away matches for the club – he knew that it was always harder to get volunteers for these fixtures and he particularly liked seeing new venues. Mike would even turn up to support at away games (even if not required to umpire) if it was near to one of his other umpiring commitments that day.

In 2005, I was asked to help coach one of the junior Sunday teams, starting with an away match at Nuneaton!
Mike was soon offering me a lift and that was the beginning of a number of away games that we linked-up for, while putting the hockey world to rights! Always organised & prepared, Mike would have car maps & instructions at the ready - he may never have broken any speed limits but we always arrived in good time!

One occasion when driving to a game at Wallingford, I remember Mike telling me how he had just ‘discovered’ the iPod and sharing how delighted he was that he had managed to download his music to play in the car. As we arrived in the car park, Mike was playing Meat Loaf’s “Bat Out of Hell” through his car speakers … I’d like to say there was a big wheel spin and skid with dust flying everywhere … but I think I’ve just imagined that bit!

Mike’s seemingly never ending selflessness & energy for umpiring saw other local hockey clubs benefit too from his services, as did budding new umpires that he would help coach & assess.

As hockey evolved, Mike was his usual diligent self in getting to know & understand any new rules before a season started. Again, a great asset to the coach, Mike helped dissect these new rules to ensure the teams fully optimised them. Mike’s attention to detail was second to none!

In 2014, Mike finally stepped back from umpiring for a few months as he followed other Saturday commitments and deservedly gave himself some weekend time of his own! Upon his return, Mike continued to help out with the club’s umpiring commitments both on Saturdays, and Sundays when he wasn’t catching up with his mum.

Over his 27 years of officiating, adding up all his club fixtures, league appointments, junior games, indoor matches and his time in Germany, Mike umpired the best part of 1,000 matches!

Mike – you did so much and never asked for anything … you got on with things quietly and never sought recognition.
Thank you for your commitment … your generosity … and your friendship.
You’ve left us far too soon … but we feel very fortunate to have known you … and deeply value the time we spent with you.

David Peters 28.4.21