State of Referees

[Guest]

I must say that ice hockey refs at 12U and lower is abysmal. Parents, coaches & players on both teams playing each other get so frustrated at calls or lack of calls it becomes a dangerous situation. Most of these refs are very young and do not understand the rules, which leads to non-calls or calls so terrible everyone goes crazy. It is time for the AAHA to really look at the situation and come up with solutions. I have some recommendations:

1. Any teenager or adult that is a new ref must ref a minimum amount of mites and lower level games (A/B) before being allowed to ref AAA or AA games.

2. Once #1 is completed these "new" refs must be evaluated to make sure they are doing a good job.

3. A refresher course must be given every 2 months to all refs based on their evaluations.

4. Evaluation should come from coaches of both teams in a game to make these refs and the AAHA aware of what the issues are.

The situation is so bad that I fear that a stupid parent or coach is going to hurt one of these refs. Thoughts?

[Guest]

Do you ref? Because you just ended youth hockey, congratulations

[Guest]

My son wants to go back to covid hockey. He said it was more enjoyable without parents in the stands. He felt games were better controlled without parents cheering on cheap shots and yelling nonstop at everyone on the ice. He felt coaches had better control of their teams without parent influence as well. He played a game the other week where a player was ejected for punching another in the head and the parents gave him fist pumps as he left the ice. Ref did their job; parents were the problem. I worked the scoresheet or clock every game for the past 7yrs and 85% of the time our little darlings should have been ejected for abuse of the official. During covid hockey maybe 10% would have gotten ejected.

I never refed, but I was an umpire for many years and stopped because of the parents. Getting yelled at, spit at and threatened with violence wasn't worth the $40-70 to put on the gear in 90+ degree heat. I had a 11yr old tell me to f-off because I called him out for not sliding at home plate while a play was being made. After I ejected the kid his Coach apologized, his dad said he see me in the parking lot.

I'm not saying that the officiating hasn't been better, but we already have a ref shortage. Just like in baseball when you are yelled at nonstop from the 1st pitch in game 1 of the 2-3 games that day it wears on you. The refs are working 3+ games a day, sometimes in multiple rinks. And you want them reviewed by those yelling at them.

[justahockeydad]

The problem is many parents don't know the rules and then want to blame the refs. Your post says enough of what you don't know.

[Guest]

My son played hockey for 8yrs and at 16 he signed up to become a ref. His 1st game was for mites and it was his last for travel hockey. The parents were yelling at him nonstop and even called him names for not calling "penalties". The rink manager kicked out a handful of parents after they overheard it. 8 and under falling because they can't skate is not a penalty. He decided right then that it wasn't worth it. He still refs the local in-house league and loves it.

[Guest]

Do you ref? Because you just ended youth hockey, congratulations

Exactly!  There's not enough refs as it is.... new refs have to learn somewhere.  Its better than no hockey or playing with one ref.

The author of this post is probably the a-hole yelling at them versus understanding that they are trying their best.  You're complaining about 12U and lower.... give me a break, be happy there's two officials for most games.  Remember 12U championships are forever, quit living vicariously through your kids.

Here's my suggestion... tell your coach to shut up during the game other than to ask for clarification and then after the game have your coach talk to the ref to help them.  I've found many younger refs appreciate telling them what they did well and then offer some suggestions.  Most of them are so nervous of being yelled at for making a call that they're afraid to blow their whistle.  They all know the rules, they all play hockey and love this game!  Help them build confidence so they become better refs.

[Guest]

There are a number of problems with your post:

1.  You are talking about 12U. Lol, just watch your kid play.
2.  You ignore the fact that the parents are the biggest problem.  They DO NOT know the rules.  In fact, a lot of coaches do not.
3.  Parents need to let coaches handle the refs.
4.  Coaches need to talk to the refs with respect.  Most times, refs will come over and apologize if they missed a call. Treat them as humans
5.  Teach your kids that life isn't fair and sometimes you need to overcome adversity.
6.  I do agree that sometimes non calls cause a problem with games getting out of hand but not nearly as much as parents.
7.  There is zero chance that a hockey organization is going to do what you said because there are not enough refs.  If you want better refs, then tell the parents to STFU because they are chasing the good ones out.   And, as previously noted, the parents do NOT understand the game. 

[Guest]

a coach or parent will hurt a ref due to bad or missed calls in 12u?  the 8u player who fell over because another 8u player - neither of them being particularly good skaters - bumped into them? WOW that 'missed call' just shook that player off the track to nhl superstardom. give me a break.

think for 2 seconds about what you're saying here. it's 6/8/10u you're talking about.

the refs are all hockey players themselves, most having played for 8 years or more. THEY KNOW THE RULES.

my son refs and reports that coaches, players, and parents are frequently abusive, especially coaches trying to intimidate him - shame on them. for now, the $ is worth it to him but entitled coaches, players, and ignorant homer parents are slowly killing this sport.

GROW UP!!

[Guest]

a coach or parent will hurt a ref due to bad or missed calls in 12u?  the 8u player who fell over because another 8u player - neither of them being particularly good skaters - bumped into them? WOW that 'missed call' just shook that player off the track to nhl superstardom. give me a break.

think for 2 seconds about what you're saying here. it's 6/8/10u you're talking about.

the refs are all hockey players themselves, most having played for 8 years or more. THEY KNOW THE RULES.

my son refs and reports that coaches, players, and parents are frequently abusive, especially coaches trying to intimidate him - shame on them. for now, the $ is worth it to him but entitled coaches, players, and ignorant homer parents are slowly killing this sport.

GROW UP!!

They do not know the rules. You would think icing would be an easy one, but they miss interpret this every game. You would think off side is easy, but they miss this so many times until coahces and parents yell. They miss high sticking. They call hooking when you lift the stick and don't get in on the hands. They call tripping when you have the puck, you take a stride and the defender falls. They miss tons of goalie interference. I could go on and on. I played hockey at youth, college (club) and as an adult. I know the rules and used to ref. I can't ref anymore due to a bad knee.

I will say the parents need to shut up about the calls. When parents yell about a missed call it upsets both teams on the ice and then all hell breaks loose. So my recommendations would be:

1. Parent education to tell them to stop complaining about calls
2. Coaching education to tell them to call ref over to discuss call rather than screaming at refs
3. Educate the refs about how to call games. We had 1 ref think he was refing Bantam and allowed checking for 2 periods before realizing it was AA PW!

I understand there is a ref shortage and I know from experience how difficult it is to ref, but games get dangerous when these young refs do not take control. How abou not putting 2 15 year old kids out to ref a 12U game. Assign a more experienced ref with every younger ref.

[Guest]

My son in college now, but back when he was in like 9/10th grade, he worked at our rink running the scoreboard for the younger kids summer league. This was a very casual league, most of the kids were from the club that played out of this rink so everyone knew each other. It was all different skill levels and they even teams out as best they can. Like I said, pretty laid back, basically a way to get your kid on the ice once a week for 6 weeks during the summer. One game, neither of the refs showed up. The guy who runs the league asked my son if he wanted to ref. He reluctantly said yes because he just happened to bring his skates with him to get sharpened. Anyway, while he had played hockey for 6-7 years at that point, he's never reffed before. The think the age group was like 11-14, mix if PWs and Bantams. So, never reffed before and doing it alone and its summer league, you would think no one would care about missed calls. Well, he missed an offsides which lead to a goal and the coach for the team that got scored on start yelling and complaining and a few parents from the stands said stuff as well. The guy who ran the league was handling the scoreboard so he told the coach to chill out. Later, my son didn't call a penalty and again the coach started yelling again and parents said shit again. After the game, when the teams were shaking hands, the one coach shook my sons hand, but the complainer walked right past him. Seriously, how do people act like that to kids.
I know not every coach is like this, but it was an eye opener for my son. He had mentioned at times that he was thinking about going through the ref certification to earn some money, but he had no interest after that experience.