Young Officials

[Gerard]

I read a stat that said there were 1000's of kids who quit this position b/c of the abuse. It's not hard to see why. They're treated less than animals and few adults seem to think ill of it. I'll admit there are few times when i've really yelled at a guy and, even then, it wasn't a teenager but a guy in his late 20's, 30's. Maybe that's still no excuse. Well, no maybe's about it.

I wonder if amateur sports has any real power over this?? If they did you could bet it would be stopped. Sad thing is, if these parents could see themselves few would change their tone. They justify everything under the blanket of sticking up for the team...blah...blah...

I guess it's just the way society has chosen to idolize athletes and it just filters down from there. As much as I love my Leafs i'd never begin to think they're as important as a doctor. But, with million dollar contracts beign handled out like free coupons from the newspaper, there seems to be no end/sight for this type of furour. I bet there are sad stories of attacks on these same kids by parents b/c they lost a game b/c of that 'stupid' kid and the fact that their child now is branded a 'loser'. Makes you wonder who the loser really is.

[freshwind]

You have hit a topic near and dear to my heart,OM.
I began officiating hockey in about 1972.
I worked up to competitive hockey and even got an invite to the OHA rookie camp around 1980 or 81.
There are serious issues revolving around the refs. I believe it all stems from the growth of adult hockey in the 70's and 80's. When I was a teenager I was generally paired with an adult, a veteran of anywhere from 10 - 20 years of officiating. Adult hockey gave these guys an opportunity to make some real coin, either $8 for a minor game or $15-20 for an industrial game. I know guys that would make close to $300 a week doing men's hockey in 1974.
The ripple down effect has been devastating. Three years ago I was talking to our ref in chief (he's been at the same rink for over 30 years) and offered to come back and work with the young kids. In subsequent discussions we talked about the attitude of these kids. When I was a young official, skates had to be polished, white laces, black ironed pants etc. This was the rule for tyke houseleague and juvemile AAA. It was all the same. No gloves, hustle, don't lean on the boards etc.
Now, they look like slobs, meander around, argue with coaches. I asked why he doesn't enforce it the way we used to, he told me if you give a kid heck today, one of 2 things happen, they quit, or their dad starts threatening you. Sad commentary.
The shortage of officials creates another problem. They can't get rid of the bad ones. We have put in all kinds of zero tolerence rules for players, coaches, and spectators, when will we make the officials accountable for their actions on the ice?
I have a couple if instances that have occurred in the last year that will knock your socks off. I have to go to work now, though, but I want to continue this discussion.
take care.

[Capital_Leafy]

I coached minor hockey for over twenty years and as freshwind has indicated, there are some serious concerns when it comes to officiating. In all the time I was at the rink, I only saw a few idiots go at a young and inexperienced referee on a few occasions. Older and adult referees were a different matter however. And in many cases, the abuse was understandable if not justified.

The problem from my perspective lies with the various minor hockey league organizations from the community level right up to the Canadian Hockey Association. When you see someone like Bob Nicholson spend so much time with the Olympic team, you have to wonder if he is serious about the state of the game at the grassroots. Until such time as these league volunteers get their act together and stop treating their associations as personal reputation enhancement vehicles, the problems will persist.

While I have witnessed some abuse of officials, I have witnessed and experienced far more abuse by the referees over the years. For example, last year my son's Houseleague B team was involved in a playoff game where the score ended up 0-0. The tie allowed our team to advance. After the game and without the knowledge of our team, one of the linesmen went to the referee in their locker room and said that he thought that a shot early in the third period was in fact a goal. (The linesman works with the coach of the other team). The referee accepted this linesman's word (both are senior officials in the league) and changed the score to read 1-0. By midweek, we had been informed through a parent on the other team that something was amiss. When we investigated, the referee in chief told us that he did not know anything about this alledged incident. In fact, on the previous Sunday, he had personally authorized the score change and initialled the scoresheet thus making it official. We then went to the VP of our association who tried to slough off the matter. It was only after I approached the district office with the threat of legal action that our team got a review by the president of our association and the discrepancy discovered. All kinds of apologies were made and the referee, linesman and referee in chief were all supposedly fired. This season I go to one of my other son's games and who do I see officiating? All three of the men who were supposedly fired.

There is rampant impropriety in the various associations. The league in my area encompasses six or seven different associations and at least four refereeing districts. If you want to see homerism, just spend a day in a couple of the rinks in the area. Referees will always favour the teams in their district because those associations control the officiating assignments for the local tournaments and that is where a referee can make good money over the course of a weekend. If anyone outside the district complains about the officiating, their complaint is ignored. Not deemed unfounded. Simply not answered. And nothing is being done to correct this little problem.

Nobody who can make a difference wants to make that difference because all are either trying to climb the ladder into district operations or are seeking favours in some other way. Decent coaches, officials and other volunteers are becoming fed up and leaving. Unless there is a complete about face, minor hockey will not survive in it's present form for much longer. Registration is down significantly in our area and that inturn will force the cost (to the individual) to go up and cause more kids to quit. It is time that the powers that be stopped paying lip service to the problem and actually did something meaningful. Conduct Pledges and Blue Ribbon panels serve no purpose except to bolster the ego of those involved. Minor hockey has not been about the kids for as long as I have been involved but I'll be da*ned if I didn't hear every two bit association president deny that fact. Some people will sell their soul for a pittance and minor hockey executives are right at the front of that line.

[Gerard]

there's a guy about the same age as our players (BIG prob. right there) who has lost control of just about every game i've seen him ref for quite a few years.

He can't control anything and when the coaches begin to complain (usually before the 1st period of over) his ears are as big as Dumbo's and tosses people like there's no tomorrow. About a month ago, in a provincial playdown game, we won about 10-1 b/c this guy lost control. There were so many complaints it wasn't funny. I felt bad for the visiting out/town team. I'm sure they figured he was a 'homer' but the fact it, he was just terrible ref who should have been in lower levels. Maybe the league felt they had no other options and he got raised up. It's a shame on both counts.