The whistle-blower

“Refereeing a match is all about keeping your cool,” she says. “It is a source of pride that I haven’t lost control of a game.” Stressful situations are indeed nothing strange for Solly who was a criminal prosecutor in Buenos Aires before she switched to civil law. “You realise that if you can keep your calm when some of the most horrific evidence is being provided,you can certainly do the same in what is ultimately a very civilised game,” she says. That means the stern-faced umpire with a neatly tied ponytail prefers keeping the conversation going with the teams during a match rather than booking players or using the whistle.

Keeping your cool is one thing,keeping pace is another. Solly says the speed of the game has increased a lot ever since she officiated her first match some 15 years ago. “You need to be at the right place at the right time all the time,so you can’t compromise on your physical fitness. During tournaments,I gym for an hour every alternate day and on match days,I try to stay as active as possible,” she says. The hard miles though are done well before a tournament starts. “Every weekend at home in Argentina,I officiate matches. On Saturday,I referee a couple of women’s matches,and on Sunday,I umpire a couple of men’s club matches. At the club level,the men are rough and tackle quite wildly. If you can handle that,international matches are easy,” she says.

In India,Solly opens her laptop soon after the day’s play. Like most umpires,hockey is her passion,not a full-time profession—her career in law funds her love of umpiring. However,Solly goes a step further. “Other umpires at least make some money. I lose money every time I take part in a tournament. Because each time a tournament takes place in the middle of a case,I have to hire a lawyer to go to the courts or file applications for me,” she says.

The real cost is in terms of family life as she is away a couple of months every year. Five months after the birth of her second son,Solly had to officiate the 2002 Women’s World Cup in Perth. She resumed training a month after the delivery and worked out daily to regain fitness in time for the tournament while her mother took care of the infant. While her two children,now 17 and 9,have accepted their mother’s career,their father was not as understanding. “We divorced after 17 years together,” she says. Solly is now married to a rugby coach who respects her passion for the game. No matter what,Solly’s day now ends with a long call back home.

Despite the long periods away from family and financial insecurities,what keeps Solly motivated is her memory of the 2004 Olympic final in Athens. “That final was the best thing that happened to me. After my sons,that is,” she says,correcting herself with a smile. “I got to know about the appointment just a day before the final. It was an unbelievable and unexpected moment. Ever since I had started umpiring,it had been a dream to be at a World Cup final. I had even prepared myself to perhaps never get the chance. That it would come at my first Olympics in Athens was completely unexpected. To my relief,the game was as perfect as it could get. After I blew the final whistle,I collapsed in Marelize’s (Marelize de Klerk,the second referee) arms and just cried.” In Athens,South African umpire de Klerk was the senior official. Solly now sees herself playing the role of a mentor. In international tournaments,she makes it a point to room with the junior-most umpire in the tournament. At the qualifiers,the apprentice is New Zealand’s Karen Bennett. “We go through our matches on video and try to see where we could have improved.”

Indeed,the mentor’s role is what Solly sees herself playing in future. Despite having seven more years of umpiring left in her (FIH policy states that all umpires must retire at 47),Solly says she plans to quit after the 2016 Olympics. “After four Olympics,I would have achieved all I wanted to do. Then it would be time for me to train the next set of umpires,” she says.