Hockey season is upon us with camps for players of all ages either underway or close to getting going. But there are other camps, spread out all over Central Alberta, also preparing to launch.
These camps are for aspiring referees who will be working those games the players are working towards. These refs are also putting in the time to be in “game shape” when the season starts.
“All of our officials have the same goal when we step onto the ice and that’s to make sure the game is fair and consistent as it can be,” said Darren Kuz, the North Central Zone Referees chairman.
Kuz says numbers within the referee community tend to fluctuate from year to year as officials come and go for a variety of reasons. Two years ago the North Central Zone, which stretches from border to border as well as just north of Ponoka to a bit south of Carstairs, took a bit of a dip with about 500 officials registered. Last year there was some bounce back with a somewhat normal count of close to 600.
“It’s an ongoing struggle,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s hockey or football or baseball, officials have a very tough job to do and some enjoy it, some thrive in it. Others don’t so we do have a high turnover rate and any jurisdiction across the country can lose almost 50 per cent of their officials at any given time.”
So each year the battle is resumed as zones try to recruit new officials, retain the current members and at the same time continue to develop the referees as the season progresses.
Now the recruiting and development of officials is one part of the process. Over the last few years the NCRZ has made presentations to minor hockey teams around the region to see if some players might want to be reffing games at levels other than what they are playing. The effort targets both male and female players.
“There’s great opportunity for both but maybe even more for female officials. That’s something, right across the province and probably right across the country-how do we get more female officials going?” he said.
They have even tapped into some junior teams to see if those players want to don the stripes and pick up a whistle.
Keeping them in the fold is another piece of the puzzle and it’s an area where many referee associations have to deal with outside influences.
Kuz says at some point everyone involved in hockey needs to take a step back from the situation .There is no doubt within any group of officials you will find good ones, average ones and those who maybe aren’t so good. The associations do what they can to weed out those who maybe are in over their heads. But far too many officials leave the game because they are the centre of attacks, either verbally and in some cases physically.
“At the end of the day if you’re at an Atom B game I think everybody from coaches, players and fans have to realize that 14 or fifteen year old is doing the very best job they can do. If you have to talk to that official do it in a respectful way.” He said. “To be yelling or cursing at that young kid, well it won’t take long for that kid to say I don’t need this. I can go work somewhere else and make less money but I won’t have people yelling and swearing at me.”
Kuz feels it’s the small minority of fans, coaches or parents who behave in this manner but it only takes one incident like that to turn a young official or new official off the game forever, he said.
“I think it’s something all stakeholders in the game of hockey are trying to work on. I think we’ve made some progress over the years but there’s still work to be done.”
The clinics are already underway in some areas of the province so you just need to hit the computer and find the one which best for you.
“All new officials will have to take an online course.We call it Hockey University and you go through that before you come to the one day clinic.”
Clinics run from about 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the new officials will get out on the ice where they are taken through penalty procedures, how to make an offside call, puck dropping for face-offs, and icing procedures, said Kuz.
In the classroom rule emphasis will be covered along with the basics you’ll need to take to the ice including communication between officials, players and coaches as well as respect for sport.
“We try to make it as engaging as possible so at the end of the day people are getting that refresher they need so they can go out and officiate hockey and be more comfortable with the overall rules and procedures of the game.”
The new refs aren’t just tossed to the wolves either. They will be doing a level of hockey which suits them and likely will have an experienced official working the game with them, said Kuz.
In some cases , a more seasoned ref will take to the ice but be there only for advice and not make any calls during the game but work with the young crew on positioning and such things.
One aspect new this season for officials who are over the age of 18 is to undergo a criminal record check which can be done online and has to be completed before the end of the calendar year.
“If it’s not done then you cannot officiate and Hockey Alberta will let us know those officials who have not had the criminal record check done,” said Kuz. “This is something that is supported by our association, the Hockey Alberta Referees Committee.”
All the clinic information is on the website www.nczrc.ca and you can find when the clinics are, where they are being held and what you need to bring that day.
Then it’s drop the puck and game on!
