I commend you on a very informative and well maintained web
site. I had searched for quite awhile before I found your site with
the information that I was looking for. I am the Recreation Director in a small
community and part of my job is screening coaches, officials and
registering with the local minor hockey association. One of the
largest problems that we continually face is the lack of referees.
We host referee clinics every fall and usually have a few new people come
out for the clinic, however I am discovering that one of the main reasons
for the lack of adult referees is the mandatory two day clinic that each
referee must attend in order to become certified. For a referee that
has plenty of experience, I hope that someday a "refresher"
clinic becomes available and the two day clinic remains in place for
referees under the age of 18. Until this becomes available, I fear
that we will continue to struggle to find referees and games will end up
cancelled because of this problem. Do you have any suggestions or
incentive ideas that we could use to help with the recruiting of referees?
Any feedback would be very beneficial. Thank you, Val Elhard Castor, Alberta
Editor's Comment
After checking out this matter with a few of the senior officials
responsible for training and certification in the City of Greater
Sudbury, I have found that the length of the training program is
flexible. It is only one day long in Sudbury, and actually ends near
the mid- to late-afternoon, whether you are a new official or simply
taking a refresher course. There is no on-ice component, which may
extend the time of the program in some areas. This season, for
example, there were three classrooms in session at the same time.
One was strictly for the 41 new officials. Another was for officials
at Levels 1 and 2, and the third was for senior officials at Level 3
and above. However, even with the 180 some officials registered in
the district, there is still a frightening turn-over rate and it is
getting harder and harder to keep officials for more than 2 or 3
years.
I would think that if you are finding the length of time to be
detrimental in your area, you should be able to reduce the training
session to one day by going through the proper channels. I suppose
the other thing you could do is pay them to attend the two day
session and give them their money over the course of the six month
season. That way they must remain and do the games in order to be
compensated. The compensation may even simply be a return of the
certification fee.
Let me know how you make out, and feel free to comment on
other issues.
I am a new ref who went to a very well respected hockey
officials school this past. I really enjoyed myself and was excited to ref
in my first game back home. Since the Camp is run by one association
I had to pay a cross over fee to my own association to which I did.
I found out how to pay by contacting the RIC in my area with whom I left
my name, and
which Level I have as a Ref. He told me he would get back to me with
a few games. It has been over a month and with many attempts to
contact him I still have not done my first game. I have talked to some
refs (not All) in my area and they say they don't need them or one
said I am not part of the group (What ever that means). I have
friends that work at
the local arenas and they have said that many refs complain they have to
many games to do and that some do not show for games. If this is
true why don't they welcome me and any others who would be willing to be a
hockey Referee??? If we don't develop new refs Hockey will decline
even more, and Hockey should be on the incline not on the decline. Name withheld by publisher to avoid negative consequences
Editor's Comment
There is really nothing I can say about this letter. Everything the
writer says is absolutely true. If we want to encourage young
referees to remain in the role, we have to give them positive
experiences during their first couple of years. It costs a lot of
money to become certified and then pay association fees. So much so,
that some new officials barely make the money back in their first
year. People have often stated that the politics involved with
refereeing is even more prevalent than that involved with coaching
and rep teams. Hearing comments such as this simply confirms this
belief.
Good day. Being a referee myself for 22 years and
coach for 6 I have seen lots of abuse of officials. Suspensions are
not enough. I believe that the CHA should start a program that
involves parents. I believe it is mostly the parents that cause all
of the headaches. The pressure the kids and coaches face I believe
are higher than what the NHL goes through. If parents misbehave, I
believe some type of fine should be enforced. The abuse does not
stop at the rink but I believe it keeps going on, on the way home, at home
and even until the next game/practice. We should also educate
parents and make it mandatory to follow up with courses and if not, their
kid cannot play. We have to remember, its a game and its suppose to
be fun for the KIDS. When I coach I teach my kids to have respect
for the team officials, game officials, other players-parents and most of
all themselves. This way they learn self respect and it makes it
more pleasurable for everyone. I believe it can have a snowball
effect if its done correctly. When these kids grow up and have a
family themselves, I want them to be able to refer to that "peewee
coach" who taught them values on and off the ice. It all starts
from the beginning when they start to skate. Teach them about fair
play and show them how it can affect their lives. I have earned much
respect from parents and officials because the way I think and show my
"kids" (team) what its all about.
I encourage you to keep writing articles on this topic. Thanks for
your time. Pierre Menard, Ottawa
Editor's Comment:
Excellent points, Pierre. As you can tell from the general
philosophy of After The Whistle, we too, feel that education is
perhaps the best way to solve some of the major problems which are
present in hockey today. The unfortunate thing is that most parents
who create problems in the stands are very mild-mannered both before
and after the game. A lot of them are even embarrassed at the way
they lose control of themselves during the game. The sport simply
brings out some very negative emotions in people. Nevertheless,
continuous education may enable some of the people to regain some of
the self control which is lacking.
I read your article
and agree that we have a problem. Hockey is losing and our kids are
the ones that are going to suffer. The only problem that I have is
that everyone is sticking up for the officials. What about our
children who are getting hurt on the ice because the officials aren't
doing their job. I feel that they are getting paid good money for
one hour of work. I also feel that our children are being neglected
out on the ice. We all want the kids to have fun but how are they
suppose to have fun when they are getting hurt.
I also realize that the kids are not going to make NHL. As a parent,
and my child is on a break away and is hauled down, the official does not
call a penalty, how do you explain it to that child? Kids are not
stupid. They know when an injustice has happened. If you
worked at another place, making the same amount of money (which most teens
don't), you would be in trouble for making that kind of error.
As far as I am concerned, the officials are not trained to do their job
properly and that some are there just for the money. Where else can
teens make $15.00-20.00 an hour? Maybe if they received the proper
training and took the job seriously than a lot of the bull wouldn't
happen. Anonymous writer
Editor's Comment:
Thank you for your comments. We acknowledge that there are some
officials who must be encouraged to improve the standards they
display on the ice. After The Whistle is designed to be an
educational tool for all participants. We want everyone to
understand the feelings and concerns with respect to hockey from
other points of view. Yours is well presented and should be heard.
Not having quality referees is a problem
across the country.
The problem in minor hockey is with the number of coaches who
are taking advantage of this fact. We all acknowledge that weak
officiating exists, but the coaches must take responsibility for their players.
I coach an Atom team (non-contact) and
during a recent game after we were ahead 2-0, the stick work from
the other team began. A total of 6 players were injured with no calls.
One player was taken down on three occasions. The referees were young
and not calling any penalties. I talked to them on more than one
occasion, asking them to call penalties.
We told our players that if they retaliate
they would be benched.
We won the game 4-1.
After the game we informed the coach of the excessive stick work and he
commented that he saw no problem.
During another game we saw the opposite coaching. We lost a well
fought game with the number 1 team. During the game one of the top
team's players was starting to push our players around after the
whistle had been blown. After the game the other coach asked if I had
seen this pushing. I said yes but told him I had lost track of his
player. He told me he benched him for the final minutes because of his
conduct.
This an example of a coach being responsible for his players action.
We need more of this.
Gerry Savage,
Atom Coach
Editor's Comment:
Your points are well made, Gerry. A good coach will use "every
trick in the book" to try to give his team an advantage which
will result in a win. Experienced referees know this and have
developed coping methods to deal with the coaches who try to
"work the referees". Unfortunately, as we do a better job
of training coaches, we get too many people behind the bench who
think they are in the NHL. Therefore, tactics which were once found
only at the upper and elite levels are working their way into the
Atom and Novice levels. You have described the two extremes with
respect to coaches. I daresay it wouldn't be too difficult to pick
the one extreme to which most coaches lean. In the end, however, we
are losing young kids who could very well turn into fine referees if
given the chance. But how long can a person take the abuse in the
developing years, especially when these developing years occur while
a person is in his/her early teens - already a difficult time with
respect to self-esteem and personal development.
Thanks for your comments.
I would like to know how much you are going
to have to pay officials to keep them happy. We have higher ice
costs every year and you're right - you can't play the game without
officials. So can they ask for any amount they want? That's
blackmail. Training refs, like coaching hockey players should be
addressed more by the CHA. I look forward to your comments. Thunder Bay Minor Hockey Association
Editor's Comments:
Thank you for bringing up a very important point. It is my opinion
that the reason we are experiencing so many problems in minor hockey
today is directly related to money. It costs so much money to put a
child on the ice today that hockey is in danger of becoming a game
for the rich. When parents realize how much money they are taking
out of their pockets to watch their children play hockey, it is only
natural that they demand the best at all times. However, hockey is
still a sport. Players are not all of the same skill level -
physically nor intellectually. The same holds true for referees,
coaches, association members, etc. But the cost is the same for all
players.
I went through it as a parent too. There were many occasions
when I would shake my head wondering why I was wasting hundreds of
dollars which could be put to better use for my family. The lowest
times were those when you wondered if common sense and intelligence
were going the way of the dinosaur.
Nevertheless, life continues - both on and off the ice. But the
financial realities are more dominant than ever. Hockey, like
everything else is simply becoming more expensive. And people are
beginning to realize that "you get what you pay for".
You hit the nail on the head with the "coaching of
referees". Referees do need to be coached. They need to be
given on-ice experiences and also need to be given off-ice
instruction. There is only one problem. We are facing a serious lack
of trained, experienced referees in hockey. There simply are not
enough referees to go around, let alone enough referees to act as
coaches or mentors for young officials. This merely perpetuates the
problem.
In the "old days" as I like to call them, people
were more tolerant of young referees. Coaches and parents were more
laid-back about the sport when their children were at the Novice and
Atom levels. House League became a place where it was comfortable
for young officials to become experienced and learn how to handle
the hundreds of possible situations which come up during a season.
Today, Coaches and Parents want the very best for their children,
regardless of the age or level of play. Therefore, you get people
yelling and screaming as much if not more during Novice games as
during Midget games. Most referees will tell you that it is much
easier to do a Junior A game than an Atom game today.
Take a team of NHL referees and have them do a tournament at
the Atom level for an experiment. I would predict that blood
pressures and stress levels would skyrocket among the officials
after spending a weekend under the constant pressure of Atom level
parents and coaches.
The answer is not simply higher pay rates for officials,
however, as the supply drops and the demand increases, this will
happen naturally. Nevertheless, we must be prepared to pay enough to
keep the referees on the ice. Refereeing is a job. If the pay is not
sufficient, the person will do something else. Everybody else at the
minor level is a volunteer or is paying to be there. They want to
take part in the activity because they receive a certain level of
pleasure from the sport.
A referee is a professional. He likes the job or he wouldn't
be there. But don't for a minute think that the referee is there
merely because he likes hockey. It is just as ludicrous to think
that an NHL player is playing for the love of the game. Take away
his salary and see how much he loves the game. If you want the best
players on your team, you have to pay them well or they will go
elsewhere.
The coaching of referees is a serious problem which must be
addressed, and it must be addressed soon. But it will cost money.
And it is going to cost more money to put officials on the ice. But
it won't be blackmail. It will merely be the way it is.
There is nothing stopping a Minor Hockey Association from
finding volunteers who are willing to get certified as referees and
then asking them to do the games free of charge. If anyone has done
this, let me know how it worked out.
As for it being the responsibility of the CHA, I somewhat
disagree. The CHA is a political organization that is under a lot of
difficult constraints. If Thunder Bay wants to solve the problem
locally, it is up to Thunder Bay to take the appropriate action. And
it may well be that the private-sector will have to become more
involved. Perhaps instead of spending money on leather jackets and
lavish hotels during out of town tournaments, the money would be
better spent on developing referees and additional skill development
for players.
