By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
Keely Lyons has always enjoyed playing field hockey., But she’s also grown to find she enjoys being part of the ‘other’ team on the field as well., In addition to being a player, Lyons, a senior at West Windsor-Plainsboro High South, is also a field hockey umpire. She got interested in being on the other side of the whistle while still playing for the Pirates and has taken the necessary steps to get started with the sport as an umpire as well., “I played field hockey all four years of high school and one year in middle school, so I played a long time,” said Lyons, who plans to attend the University of Vermont next year. “I got into umpiring because my guidance counselor at school, her daughter had Cris (Maloney) as a coach for a league team and they had volunteer opportunities to coach. I mentioned I had wanted to umpire forever Cris encouraged me try umpiring. He said we’d would love to have you and I showed up. I started coming every week as a volunteer coach and eventually he asked would you like to umpire?”, Lyons took the online course and gained her Level 1 indoor certification. She is an umpire member of USA field hockey and recently umpired an indoor tournament where she called U14 and U16 games., “I think it is a lot of fun,” Lyons said. “It is something I really wanted to do for a long time. I love the sport so much. I wish more people would do it. It is a mental exercise and not just physical. A few weekends ago I went to a tournament in Feasterville (PA) and that was U14 and U16. Recently I got my indoor certification so I can do U14, U16 and U19 and umpire at national indoor tournaments., “What was cool was that I got to play for a large portion of my life and now I get to see field hockey from different perspective. This perspective is different. It’s cool learn all the rules and applying them in a game situation. It’s way different than the way than I looked at the game before.”, Lyons took the online course offered by Maloney at UmpireHockey.com. She and Kelsey Fithen, a sophomore at Hopewell Valley High, are two of the local players to complete the course and officiate games on the field. She has found the older officials she works with to be very helpful on and off the field as she learns the game from a different perspective., “The people are so nice and that has been the coolest part,” Lyons said. “I’ve always found in field hockey that people are so kind and wonderful and easy to get to know. People love to help and love that you are a part of the sport. The older people love to be mentors and people in college want the sport to grow and love it as much as you love it.”, Lyons will take her next big step forward in her officiating career when she travels to Miami of Ohio next month to work three spring hockey games at the college level. It will be a big step but one she is looking forward to., “The players will all be in college,” Lyons said. “I think it will be a challenge because college field hockey is really fast paced and very good. But I am excited for it because I like a challenge. It should be fun and I think I will learn a lot and will meet a lot of cool people., “I umpired a club college game between Montclair and TCNJ, but that was just a club game. This will be a lot different.”, It will be a great opportunity for Lyons as she breaks into umpiring at a younger age than most., “Hopefully other people my age will see that it is possible and decide to try it,” Lyons said. “It is a fun way to stay involved with the game. Hopefully I can continue when I get to college at Vermont.”
