“Welcome
to tonight’s game. Wearing the white jerseys tonight will be the team of
Minor Hockey. Their starting line up will consist of the executive, coaches
and parents. The visiting team the Blind Lake Referees who arrived late this
evening due to the fact that their trainer forgot the sticks. It should be
an interesting game.
Is
this the way it is in your local town or city, referees on one side and
the remainder on the other? It seems for so long that amateur hockey has
had two teams, should it be this way?
It gets very frustrating at meetings to hear comments, “Call
this, call that”, then it’s called. At the next meeting “The ref’s
are calling too much”. These comments or suggestions are coming from
others who have never worn a stripped shirt. “Oh I know you’ve been
around hockey a long time, right”, Believe me when I say that being at ice level is
totally different. I relate it to this, since I’m scheduled to go in
next week and finally get this cast off my leg “I’ll say come on you
idiot that’s not how it’s done” I’ve seen how to take a cast off
on the discovery channel, I’m a pro now. Do you not think he would look
at me like I have three heads? So why is it that people keep telling us
how to do our job? You may think that I sound bitter, perhaps I am, but
more likely frustrated. Yes I know it’s my chose to ref, but why can we
not try to educate instead of turning a blind eye or blaming it on other
people.
I read many comments on this great website and approximately half
are about referees. This one comment made me wonder "Every referee
reads from the same rule book. If referees would simply call by the book
and show more consistency, players and coaches would be required to accept
that standard and abide by it. I think that until all referees think and
act the same way and administer the rule book the way it was intended, we
will continue to see problems on the ice, on the bench and in the
stands”. Perhaps if we were
to clone Kerry Fraser or Paul Stewart that would help. I also read many
articles of people saying, “The referee’s need coaching” Yes I agree
but is that the sole reason or excuse for telling teenagers that they suck
or their idiots or moron’s. Correct me if I’m wrong but if you gave
this kind of verbal abuse to our own teenager, someone may be at our door
to take your child away. Severe? Yes.
The editorial about HIGH TURN-OVER RATE AMONGST
OFFICIALS………… got me thinking, these statements had me thinking;
“We
all acknowledge that weak officiating exists, but the coaches must take
responsibility for their players. The Editor says, “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” He is absolutely correct.
Perhaps some of my favorites like Dan Marouelli and Ray Scapinello would
be up for the challenge.
“So what’s the answer? EDUCATION and WORKING
TOGETHER. What would happen if associations had parents, coaches and
players attend a mandatory meeting about rules, fair play and conduct.
Yes easy for us to do in a small town.
Why do I feel this way? I was lining a Jr.A game
and the attacking team had players in the defending zone. A player outside
the blue line rifles the puck towards the defending teams goal. My arm
goes up right away for the delayed offside and the attacking team clears
the zone. No problem right? At the next stoppage an alternate captain from
the defending team comes over and tells that me that I should have blown
the offside down as the attacking team shot the puck on the net. I calmly
said “ About 8-10 years ago you would be absolutely correct” and he
skated away kind of puzzled. Another case I remember quit well, when I was
refereeing a Midget Competitive game. And again an alternate captain said
“Our linesmen don’t have a clue what there are doing, on that last
icing call the puck went through the crease and they blow it down” I
said “And your point is…………please don’t embarrass yourself”
and he quietly skated away. Encroachment would be another great topic, how
many times have you heard “Drop the puck you idiot, we're not here
to watch you” meanwhile the wingers are about 2 ft over the hash marks
and the fans have no clue what encroachment even is. If the rule knowledge
would increase with everyone involved it would cut down on a couple
things. First and foremost abuse and embarrassment. How many hockey
parents know that when you yell at the referee or just in general it
embarrasses your child? I’ve heard many kids say, “I can’t believe
my Mom’s making a fool of herself, I just want to have fun and play
hockey”. “I wish I could
just go to the dressing room”
Referee-in-Chief’s
should offer their time to coaches and parents to give briefings. If I
were to continue as the RIC I would even go as far as having all officials
present. Have discussions about game management and what is to be expected
ie, coaches getting down off the bench to speak to a referee. Local hockey
schools would be a great place to pass rule knowledge onto players and let
them see that the officials are people too. Why is it that coaches never
ask for our help? I’m quit sure if any official was asked by a coach to
come out and help or explain some rules on the ice during a practice, the
answer would be yes. Or even if the parents approached a coach and said
“we’d like to know more about the rules so we can enjoy the game more,
can you set something up”?
Just
think if we all worked together towards the same goal, how much fun the
kids would have playing this great game.
Having these meetings or briefings is good but if you’re going to
let the coaches know what’s expected, don’t be surprised if they try
the same approach back, as they should be afforded the same opportunity.
So
if you’re a referee, executive member, coach, player or parent lets play
on the same team instead of always against one another.
Approach your local RIC and find out how you can
organize meetings to improve rule knowledge and perhaps it will cut down
on abuse and embarrassing you or your child.
