My wife and I were attending a conference in Toronto when Marty's defining moment occurred. I wish I could have been there, but when I heard the story, there was no doubt in my mind that Marty was born to referee.

The annual house league tournament was going on in our home town of Valley East. It was always a big deal with the upstairs hall open for food and refreshments all weekend.  It was also filled with intense competition with many out-of-town teams.

Marty was scheduled to referee two games in a row one afternoon. During the first game he had the opportunity during stoppages in play to see the people standing in the observation windows looking onto the rink from the dining hall. He knew the local coaches and noticed that for the entire game, the coaches who were scheduled for the next game were standing at one of the windows, clearly drinking beer. He would have thought nothing of it except that they were there for the entire game and he also noticed that the number of bottles were accumulating in front of them.

He finished the first game without incident.

When he skated out on the ice during the warm-up for the next game, Marty knew what he had to do. He went up to the home team's bench and called the coaches over. He then told them that he couldn't allow them to stay on the bench since he knew they had been drinking. A heated discussion followed. Marty pointed out that he couldn't ignore the fact that they were drinking since they were doing it in the window in full view of him. He couldn't pretend that he wasn't aware of what they were doing since he saw them drinking. He also pointed out that he couldn't put the players at risk.

Needless to say, this didn't go over well at all. The entire coaching staff was ejected prior to the game and the coach was told to find at least two others to get behind the bench or the game would be forfeited. There were plenty of loud comments directed towards this young lad on the ice as well as threats of appeal and further action against him. But Marty held his ground - knowing that he had taken the necessary action to protect the players and to accept his responsibility as a referee.

Here was a 16-year old boy refusing to allow an entire coaching staff of men who were old enough to be his father - and acquaintances of his father as well - but Marty refused to jeopardize his reputation or the integrity of the game. This wasn't a power play, because Marty is a normal guy who also likes to enjoy himself, but he had to make a difficult decision and he made it knowing that it would create a lot of controversy.

His decision was fully backed up by the Referee-in-Chief, Barry Newell.

At the beginning of the 1996 or 1997 hockey season, Warren, who was one of three brothers who were gaining a reputation for being among the most promising young officials in the Sudbury District, was criticized by his supervisor after doing his first game of the season at the bantam or midget level. Whichever level it was, it was the first time that he had refereed a game at that level. The topic of the discussion isn't important, but Warren is a person who will accept criticism if he feels it is warranted, but will defend his position to the death if he feels he is right. In this case, he thought he was right and obviously didn't respond in a manner which was thought highly of by the supervisor.

The supervisor was also the one who did the scheduling of games. Warren refereed in this home community of Valley East. The supervisor was responsible for scheduling games in the District at the AA level and beyond. Warren continued to be assigned his usual number of games in Valley East, but he didn't get any more assignments in the District. Warren continued to attend the monthly meetings held one Sunday morning each month. He continued to attend the meeting and was the only one leaving without an assignment sheet. His younger brother was assigned games, but he wasn't. There was no reason given for the lack of assignments.

This went on for two seasons. Warren continued to be recognized for his skill as a referee in Valley East. As his father, I was bothered by the lack of games because I knew that in order to advance as a referee it was important to do games at the progressive level, and there were many around who felt that Warren had what it took to go far in the career.

As I look back, I have to say that I admire the manner in which Warren handled himself. He did his assigned games in a very professional manner and received excellent reports from his local supervisors. You could tell that he was disappointed in not being given the opportunity to referee at the progressive level. Most people would have quit and taken up some other pastime. But Warren persevered and maintained his professionalism.

Something happened at the beginning of the 3rd season that I look back on and feel a deep sense of pride as a father. Warren was given games to do at the progressive level. Furthermore, whenever the supervisor was stuck for a referee, or in need of someone to do games at an unpopular time, Warren was the one he called. The dependable, professional approach that Warren had maintained during the "down time" clearly established him as one a person who was willing to accept responsibility. But more importantly, Warren accepted this changed relationship without a single ounce of resentment in his blood. Today, Warren does over 200 games a year at all levels and is about to assume referee duties in the Northern Ontario Junior A Hockey League, the highest league around next to the O.H.L. He eventually became an executive member of the Local Referee Association and served as President for a year.

The two seasons during which Warren faced the adversity of watching officials with far less skill being advanced to the progressive level established him as much more than a hockey referee. When others would have quit, he maintained his poise and continued doing what he felt in his heart was important to him.