Supervision is great for older officials who know the procedures, but may
need some fine-tuning in a few areas. This season I was helping out with
power skating and had a child in my group that was deaf in one ear. His
father had hooked up one of those two-way radios and spoke to him from the
stands. If the child didn’t understand or hear me clear enough his
father would reiterate it to him again. It was at this point that it
dawned on me, for about $80.00 we could really help young officials by
giving them pointers at the moment it happens. About a week later another
official had mentioned this same idea to me, it was good to hear that I
was not alone. With the attention span of teenagers and some adults for
that matter, being so short why not give them pointers and words of
encouragement while they referee the game.
With having supervised many games this season it seems that at times some
of the young officials are having a hard time understanding what we the
supervisors are telling them. After the game they sometimes forget the
certain incident or situation that we refer to. If local referee
associations purchased a couple of these walky-talky radios it would help
drastically. In the two-official system each could wear an earpiece, they
would not be able to speak back but only listen.
Most of the radios I’ve seen are small enough to fit into a
pocket or clipped on a belt of the official.
The nice thing I like about this is, to give positive reinforcement as
well. If a player at the novice or atom age group falls down and the
parents start yelling “Tripping”, you could let the officials know
“Good non-call, nothing happened”. The key to this is not a
long-winded speech about procedures, mechanics or positioning just key
words. “Good hustle, keep it up”, “Move closer to the net”,
“Make eye contact with partner”, “Don’t coast to the net”. Just
a few small comments could help the official’s confidence and basics of
officiating. This would work wonders in conjunction with the officials
mentorship program. I think you would see a greater improvement over a
shorter time in comparison to conducting the normal supervision. I would
imagine it going something like this.
Pick a couple of new officials and try it for a month. Try this method a
few times, then just watch a game and see what progress they have made. If
progress of fundamentals were made I’d suggest going on the ice
partnered with one of these officials. Even though all officials’
progress at different rates you could pair off with another supervisor and
see what method works best.
Find a local hockey school and see if they would want some officials
later on in the camp. This would be a great time for young officials to
get some training and experience prior to their first regular season game.
It is unfortunate that this is not available in all areas. Many officials
attend the eight-hour clinic; pass the test and step on the ice and all
parties’ involved wonder why mistakes are being mad.
Another area that this could be great for is when and how to communicate
with the coaches. In my opinion officials are going to the benches at the
wrong time and way too often. Yes rapport is very important. But if a
coach is standing on the bench yelling, why stick your head in a hot oven;
you’re just going to get burnt. It normally goes like this, coach has
smoke coming out of his ears, referee goes over to see what’s wrong,
coach says something to the referee he doesn’t like, coach gets Game
Misconduct. Why add fuel to the fire, wait until he calms down. When you
do go over and he is towering over you ask him to step down. POLITELY.
This is one area we need to work together. SHARED RESPECT. These little
things can make a heated game so much easier. With this new technique it
could be relayed to the new official on the ice, “Don’t go to the
bench”. Remember disputed goals and multiple penalty situations should
be when you’re going to the bench. Yes, you may go to give a warning
etc, but not after every play. However at lower levels of hockey it may be
require because you cannot explain a complicated rule to the captain of a
novice team. Captains and alternate captains at novice is another story in
it’s self, same as Novice Competitive.
Since I am somewhat rambling on about rapport and communication try this.
If your memory is as bad as mine write the first names of the coaches and
captains of each team on your hand. Yes I have gotten some strange looks
when I’ve never met someone and I say “Have a good game Fred” but
who knows it may work in your favor later in the game.
There is one part of officiating that this new idea for coaching
officials will not work. GAME MANAGEMENT. It has to be learned through
experience. Yes with using this technique you could tell a young official
what to call. Would it help or hinder? I think if he or she did not see
the infraction that it may confuse them. At a stoppage after the fact I
would simply say you missed this or that, except in extreme cases where
safety is concerned. Who knows it may even calm some of the fans if they
are aware this is being done.
For what it’s worth I did not get to trial this idea this season and
for this I am disappointed. Don’t get me wrong I am not making excuses
BUT with being involved with the mentorship program, junior hockey and
minor hockey Referee-in-Chief it has just been too much. I have resigned
from being the RIC and will only be involved with minor hockey to help
young officials.
I’m curious to know if other officials have tried this idea or what
your feedback is. Feel free to send your comments to After
The Whistle.
Relax it’s just a game.
