THAT’s A CHECK FROM BEHIND REF…WHY DON’T YOU
CALL IT BOTH WAYS”…..it started with this statement and before long
the hockey game was taking on a life of its own.
If you are involved in the great sport of ice hockey as I am, this
is becoming an all too familiar scene up in the stands.
What makes everyone so angry, why are they angry and what happens
to this anger?
As a hockey official I am seeing the game from a
different perspective. Lately,
I don’t like what I see, or hear coming from the stands.
Officials are a requirement to have a hockey game and you
couldn’t play this game without referees.
Hockey is a highly competitive game and you have a volatile
combination of condoned violence to include hard body contact, players
carrying “sticks” and young men with testosterone oozing from their
pores.
Ice Hockey officials have a responsibility to keep the game under control,
but unlike other sports it seems that everyone, from the parents to the
players “lose it” when they enter into a hockey rink.
Everyone seems to think that it’s okay to show a total lack of
respect for authority. Whether it is towards referees, players on the
opposing team, coaches or other parents.
You don’t yell at your kids’ math teacher for giving your kid a
bad grade - why do we think this is acceptable behavior at an ice rink?
Just because the players on the other team want to win doesn’t
mean that they deserve to be called names. What are the kids learning from
all this behavior? Is it ruining the game?
The biggest problems that I see contributing to
creating anger at hockey games generally involves parents and coaches
reacting to a “non-call”. You
can look back and see that the “non call” was the turning point in the
game. Perfection is
very difficult when you consider the speed at which the game is played and
the amount of surface ice needed to be covered by the officiating team.
It’s nearly impossible to see a butt-end to the ribs, cross
checks in the slot or sometimes even a slew foot is very difficult to see
(that’s why they call it a slew foot).
When parents and coaches lash out at the officials it sends a
message to their team that you as players don’t have to respect the
referee’s EITHER. It sends
a message that it’s OKAY to perhaps take matters into your own hands and
exact your own revenge. It
sends a message that you are ABOVE THE GAME.
Do we expect perfection from our mates, our friends or our kids?
Why do we expect it from ice hockey referees?
I can’t imagine that people are feeling good about themselves
when they leave the rink these days.
What are they saying to their kids on the drive home, “that
referee lost the game for you”. Placing
blame and responsibility on something or someone outside of ourselves is a
real problem in today’s world.
From a referee’s perspective these are some of
things that I see contributing to the anger and I think there needs to be
some clarification:
Contributing
Factors: Parents and
coaches are role modeling negative behavior for these children.
Yes, referees will make mistakes but it’s important to keep the
game in perspective.
Hockey is a violent game:
You could say that what’s passing for checking these days is more
a kin to a mugging. What
used to be called a high check or high hands or even cross checking is now
considered by many to be a legal part of the game.
Remember that all head checking is illegal whether it is from
hands, stick or a helmet. Late
checks or what is often referred to as the punishing check is also
illegal. You must avoid
checking once a player gets rid of the puck.
I am seeing hard checks being completed a full 1-2 seconds late.
The player is usually vulnerable and so these are often the most
dangerous types of hits. Big
hits are a part of the excitement of the game, but when they are illegal
checks it takes away from the game.
Lack of Hockey
Knowledge: Every parent
should read the Hockey rulebook. Many
times parents see something that is not necessarily a penalty because it
didn’t lead to a scoring chance, change of possession, injury potential,
etc. Know the game before you
embarrass yourself.
Respect: I
have actually heard parents cheer when a player from the opposing team is
lying on the ice hurt. Youth
hockey is meant to be enjoyed. Show
respect. What if that was
your kid lying on the ice.
Parents
Expectations: Family
Sports Ice Arena and many other hockey facilities are making tryouts
“off-limits” to parents. They
put paper over the windows and do not allow parents to watch.
The pressure that some parents put on their kids to perform is
obsessive. I hear parents
yelling at their kids on the ice but they don’t know the first thing
about coaching. You know many
of these parents never played the game and don’t know how to ice skate.
Sportsmanship:
The dictionary describes it as conduct and attitude considered as
befitting participants in sports, especially fair play, courtesy, striving
spirit, and grace in losing. Wow,
I guess this says a lot about how far we’ve taken this game off-course.
Let’s see if we can all make an effort to make the game fun and
create a positive learning experience for our children.
Stop
the anger PLEASE, it’s ruining the game….
