One decade after Ghana’s only International Hockey Federation (FIH) umpire, Daniel Owuraku Lomotey was retired by the World Federation, a new, energetic, dynamic and promising umpire have been appointed by the World hockey controlling body.
Richmond Kojo Attipoe(pictured), a 32 year old Banker who works with the Bank of Ghana stepped up to fill the void with some breathtaking performances at international competitions during the year 2003 to earn him an FIH outdoor badge in month of November. Richmond’s progress could be viewed as meteoric, considering the fact that he retired from playing competitive hockey in 2002 after winning a bronze medal with his Institution’s Hockey Club, Exchequers during the 14th Africa Cup for Club Champions Competition staged in Accra.
Richmond, who started his umpiring career with the Greater Accra Hockey Association in the 1980s when he was a young player, never concentrated his efforts on handling the whistle because he had a great passion for handling the hockey stick and mesmerizing opponents on the field of play. He played for two of the top Clubs in the country, Trustees of SSNIT and Exchequers of Bank of Ghana. He also played for the national team and was capped 6 times. He won many laurels with both Trustees and Exchequers on the domestic and international fronts.
His first international umpiring assignment was during the 15th Africa Cup for Club Champions Competition held in Pretoria in 2003. He was an instant success and received a lot of commendation from both the Umpires’ Manger and the Tournament Director. His second international assignment was during the 8th All Africa Games in Abuja in October. Again he excelled and was highly commended by the Tournament Director. His third assignment and perhaps a confirmation of his status as a potential world-class umpire was at the 1st Afro-Asian Games held in Hyderabad, India in November. Extracts of his Assessment as carried out by various FIH Umpires Managers and Tournament Directors available to the Ghana Hockey Association indicate that Richmond’s understanding of the game, agility and mobility and the will to learn and make adjustments, were key factors that accelerated his rise to the FIH listing. The extracts from the Assessment indicated that Richmond has been recommended for listing among the FIH’s promising umpires who need to be accelerated in their development. If this is anything to go by and if Richmond will concentrate and build-up on this rapid success, then it will not be long when breaks into the listings on FIH’s World Panel, an objective he has set for himself and hopes to achieve in the next 3 years.
The GHA extends warm congratulations to Richmond and urge him to keep pace with the rapid development of the game on the World scene. The GHA also considers the appointment of Richmond as a confirmation of our present status on the World and African rankings and encourages the current crop of officiating officials to be prepared to learn and develop their skills in their chosen areas. The Association, on its part, will concentrate its efforts at harnessing resources to ensure that the technical skills and capabilities of officiating officials are continuously enhanced to ensure their listing by the AfHF and FIH.
