Field hockey umpire scheduling software
Umpire assigning for field hockey programs.
Put two umpires on every game, from a school weeknight to a showcase with a full day on one turf. Send the assignments when they’re ready, see who has accepted, and let umpires know when the weather moves a game.
- Umpire 1 and Umpire 2 by default
- Umpires need no account
- Change and cancellation notices
A worked example
Six games on one turf, five umpires
A club runs a showcase on the Westbrook High School turf: six 60-minute games, the first at 8:00, with 15 minutes between them. Each game has two umpires, and the assignor has five umpires for twelve positions.
| Umpire | Games (start time) |
|---|---|
| Kim Alvarez | 8:00, 10:30, 1:00 |
| Jess Hart | 8:00, 10:30, 2:15 |
| Priya Nair | 9:15, 11:45 |
| Tom Becker | 9:15, 1:00 |
| Leah Ford | 11:45, 2:15 |
With a pool this small, two umpires work three games each. When the assignor fills the 2:15 game, picking Kim shows her 8:00, 10:30 and 1:00 games under “Also working”, so the last game goes to Jess, who has two and a rest since 11:30. No one works three games in a row.
Give each slot its end time. A game with no end time is assumed to run 90 minutes, so the 8:00 game would seem to last until 9:30 and clash with 9:15. The warning is marked as assumed, and it is only a warning. With real end times, only real clashes show.
Through the year
School games and club games
An assignor who covers both school and club field hockey can keep them in one Ref Grid organization, with divisions such as “Varsity”, “JV” or “U14 Club” telling them apart. An account holds one organization, so keeping them fully separate means two accounts.
Umpires can tell you, from a link you send them, the days and times of day they usually work and the divisions they prefer, which separates the umpire free on weekday afternoons from the one who only does weekend club games. It shows on your roster with the date they last confirmed it. It’s a guide for you, not a calendar: there are no dated blackouts, and it never stops an assignment.
Each position carries its own fee, so a varsity game and a club game can pay differently. The pay report exports accepted games whose start time has passed, as CSV or QuickBooks Online bills, and you pay umpires outside Ref Grid.
Outdoor games
When weather moves a game
Change a game’s time or field and every umpire who was sent it gets the old and new details. Cancel it and they get a cancellation notice, and the accept and decline links stop working. Umpires you had only drafted hear nothing, so a half-built weekend can be rearranged quietly.
Assignments themselves go out only when you send them, each as its own text, email or both. Umpires answer from the link with no account; the page shows the date, start and end time, field, teams, division, position and fee, but not their partner. After accepting they can download an .ics file, and any reminders you switch on reach only umpires who accepted. Nothing chases an umpire who hasn’t replied.
Limits
What Ref Grid doesn’t know
- Umpire ratings and levels. Keep them in the notes on each umpire’s record; nothing stops a pick.
- Games your umpires work elsewhere. Overlap warnings cover only the games in your organization.
- Travel between sites. A same-day game at another school is listed, and the drive is yours to judge.
Where to go next
- Rainouts and schedule changes
Who makes the call, the order to tell people, and rainout pay.
- Assigning fairly
Counting workload and matching experience to the game.
- Scheduling a tournament
Counting slots and rest breaks for a showcase or tournament.
One plan, with a free trial: see the pricing.
Request a demo
See how Ref Grid would work for your league or club
Tell us about your organization and we’ll get back to you.
Prefer to look around yourself? You can set up your organization without talking to us: get started.
Pair your umpires for the next turf day.
Bring in the turf schedule, pair two umpires on every slot, and send the pairs once the day looks right.