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Officially Speaking: An open letter to all associations and schedulers

01/15/2019, 10:00am CST
By Mark Lichtenfeld

100 games is the amount of experience it takes for a new referee to actually know what’s going on.


Photo: Christine Wisch

100 games!

What?

That’s right, 100 games. One hundred games is the amount of experience it takes for a new referee to actually know what’s going on.

C’mon OS. I’ve played hockey my whole life. I know the game better than most zebras.

And you’re just the guy I’m writing about.

Look, with tournaments going on throughout the holiday season, OS has heard complaints emanating from three different states about the quality of officiating – meaning lack of experience. 

In particular, OS has received beefs about green officials handling high-level Squirt and PeeWee games, with numerous erroneous calls involving black-and-white rules interpretations that oftentimes significantly changed the outcome of the contest.

I’m talking simple things like high-sticking faceoff locations, delayed penalties goals versus shorthanded teams and similar issues that, coincidentally, OS wrote about in last month’s piece.

One hundred games. Yeah, OS played hockey for years before donning stripes. And that’s when everything changes. Simple things like staying out of the play, performing split-second mental decisions and even learning how to confidently assess a simple penalty. Don’t let anyone tell you that two dozen games makes a Kerry Fraser. 

So back to the complaints. In one scenario, it was reported that a PeeWee game was staffed by two new officials with a combined experience of five games. Now, it’s understood that tournament time can be most difficult for associations to find enough officials to go around. But too many times it’s simply a matter of getting bodies there and hoping for the best.

Which often turns into the worst.

Plus, it’s not fair to out-of-town teams that pay decent money to stay and play. And it definitely can be an embarrassment for the local organization.

Naturally, no one wins in these situations. Particularly the inexperienced referee who suddenly panics from the Rule 601 abuse, and there you have it – complete inability to retain the youngster for the next year’s Level 2.

Let’s shoot for a minimum combined 50 games under the belt. Maybe 25 for house. And 25 should be the bare minimum in the utmost emergency scenario when no one can be found. Of course, 100 games is best, but OS is realistic.

So let this column be a reminder. Sure, a coach fosters the abuse. But oftentimes, this can be easily rectified by placing at least one reasonably-experienced official on a two-person crew to begin with.

With MLK and Presidents’ Day tournaments on the horizon, let’s at least try.

 

Questions and comments can be sent to editor@letsplayhockey.com, via Twitter @OSpeaking or through the Let’s Play Hockey Facebook page.

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Tag(s): State Of Hockey  News  Officially Speaking