Leading umpire Metchette forced to quit
Metchette, who took up umpiring in 2002 after 18 years in the Old Alex first team and went on to referee at two Olympics, a World Cup and a Champions Trophy, hung up her whistle after overseeing the Champions Challenge I final in Dublin in early October.
While the International Hockey Federation (FIH) are looking into increasing the upper age limit for top-class umpires, they have yet to implement an official change to the current cut-off age of 47.