After more than 30 years contributing to hockey at the highest level, Minka Woolley has retired from her role as an Umpire Manager with the International Hockey Federation (FIH). While this marks the end of her international Umpire Manager appointments, her influence across officiating — particularly within Oceania — will continue for many years to come.
Minka gained her international umpire badge in 1995 and from there had an extremely successful umpiring career, from the Champions Trophy in Macau in 2002 through to the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. When asked about some of the highlights in her international career, Minka stated that “This is a really difficult question to answer because there have been so many highlights but I think maybe the most important one was when I was at the Olympic Qualifier in Auckland in 2004, rooming with my great hockey friend, Sarah Garnett, and we were both told we were going to the Athens Olympics. That was a very very special moment in time I will never forget. I was 43 years old with just over 20 International caps to my name. It was a dream come true.”
After retiring from international umpiring, Minka then made the transition to umpire managing. Here again she has had an outstanding career and is highly regarded as one of the best in the world. Her first tournament was at the Oceania Cup in NZ 2009 where she served as a trainee umpire manager under the guidance of Craig Gribble. From there Minka went on to be appointed to numerous tournaments, including the 2010 Youth Olympics, multiple qualifiers, Commonwealth games in 2024 and 2018, and 3 more Olympic Games – 2012 in London, 2016 in Rio, and 2020/21 in Tokyo. Minka was also appointed to the Men’s World Cup in Delhi 2018. This was another highlight as Minka was the first female to ever be appointed to this tournament.
Minka has some advice for those that have aspirations of taking their own careers as far as they can: “Enjoy the moment and don’t waste your energy on the stuff you cannot control. Don’t bother worrying about the next match appointment or the tournament or the mark you want to get at the end of a tournament. Enjoy the ride, enjoy the friendships – not everyone gets to umpire finals but you do get to meet so many fabulous people, and travel to some amazing places – enjoy those opportunities. They help shape who you are not only as a hockey person but also in your private life. They are priceless if you let them be. Even the tough times which hurt so much at the time can be valuable. I have lots of little sayings that I like to use to reinforce what I think is important including: “Out on the field, Do what is right rather than what is acceptable, Bring your better best game to every game and treat every tournament like your first and treat it like your last.”
When asked what she will prioritise now, Minka stated that she has no intention of stopping. “Age is a funny thing, it’s just a number and just because I have hit that magic number doesn’t mean that I want it all to stop. I will still be part of the Hockey Tas Officiating group and will hopefully also still be involved with HA and Oceania in some way. I am also still a member of the FIH Umpiring Committee – it is always so exciting to see our up and coming Oceania officials being promoted or appointed to FIH tournaments.”
Minka recently trained as an FIH Educator, ensuring that she will still be around to mentor and coach the future of umpires within Australia and Oceania for (hopefully) many years to come, along with enjoying more travel and plenty of Grandma time with her 2 granddaughters.
On behalf of the hockey community across Oceania and beyond, we thank Minka for her outstanding contribution to the sport — not only for the tournaments she officiated and managed, but for the people she has supported, encouraged, and inspired throughout her career.