On the 29th September the National League hockey season starts – and at the moment I can’t be involved.

Every umpire has to pass a Beep or Cooper test to the required standard and today I didn’t. I struggled with the heat, my breathing wasn’t right and I was gasping for breath with a dry mouth long before I felt ‘tired’.

Truth is I’ve never failed before and I was gutted. I’ve delayed taking the test to recover from injury but today was my first failure.

It was a lesson in controlling the variables and being clear on what you need to succeed.

I can’t control my sore knee that has stopped my from running, I couldn’t control the temperature on the pitch this morning… 

But I could have picked up the ‘running’ bottle - I brought the thing to the pitch but didn’t use it and a few gulps of water might have been enough to get me through.

Fortunately I think I can have another crack at it on Saturday morning, it’s a bit of a pain in the arse but it can be done.

Don’t let something as trivial as a water bottle derail your success!