From England Hockey:

It is with great regret that England Hockey has learned of the passing of former England international, Southgate HC captain and National League Umpire Peter Stiven.

Peter will be remembered for the massive contribution that he made to National umpiring in the country.

Through his work with the National Umpiring Committee and on the Umpire Coaching Working Group in particular, he was instrumental in the introduction of the umpire development pathways and the umpiring and umpire coaching techniques and the that are still employed in top level umpiring today.

Within NPUA he was a National Selector, coach and umpire manager at the top level and served on the NPUA Executive Committee for 3 years.

He was also fundamental to the Young Umpire Programme in the formative years (something he loved) and recipient of the NPUA Special Merit Award in 2006.

He was inspirational to those umpires that he worked with and also to other coaches and umpire managers. A number of our top coaches and umpire managers today are only there because of the support and encouragement given by Peter in the early days of their respective careers. As one of our current top umpires put it on hearing the news, he was simply one of life’s good guys.

His son Tim Stiven said to the Eastern Daily Press: “Peter will be remembered with great love by his family and by his friends. In work, he had an enduring love for the world of education and was an outstanding teacher and headteacher.

“He was known for his hard work, was determined that his pupils and staff have every chance to achieve their best potential, and committed the large part of his life to helping them do so. The same spirit shone through his lifetime in hockey.

“Peter was an excellent player, no doubt; but his real satisfaction came from helping others younger than him achieve things beyond their own expectations.

“He won the respect and friendship of many through his playing and his coaching ability. in teaching, in sport and at home, his caring nature and sense of fairness were reflected in all he did. He will be greatly missed.”

He will be fondly remembered and sadly missed.