Now, long-serving hockey officials Helen Napier and Martin Glossop have the certificate to prove it.
Napier (54) and Glossop (43) had their achievements formally acknowledged at an umpire and officials awards evening at the McMillan Centre recently.
Napier is now a certified level three technical official - the highest level in New Zealand - and Glossop is a certified level two technical official.
The pair have more than 80 years of hockey experience between them.
Both took the game up as 5-year-olds and describe the sport as a lifetime passion.
Napier stopped playing about four years ago when she injured her knee but has been involved as an official since her high school years.
"I started umpiring when I was at high school and I was a boarder because that was one way of getting some extra hours out of school," she said.
As a technical official, sometimes referred to as the bench official, Napier is charged with running the game and taking care of everything from making sure the score is recorded correctly to ensuring no-one is wearing green shoes or has their shin guards on outside their socks.
They also check all the hockey sticks to make sure they meet the specifications.
"Sometimes you're dealing with some pretty emotional people and you try to deal with them in a nice manner.
"I always tell people to try and speak to people the way they would like to be spoken to."
Players sometimes lose perspective. Even the coolest players have thrown their hockey sticks away in disgust.
Napier sees it as her role to help soothe tempers and calm the situation down.
The awards evening, Napier said, was a sort of a "catch-up" acknowledging the work of the umpires and technical officials, whose contributions where often forgotten.
Glossop describes his role "as the best seat in the house".
"I love it. You get a lot out of it."
Both plan to stay involved in hockey as technical officials for the foreseeable future.
