Youth Sport Crisis In Officiating

Photo Credit Referee.com

Regardless of who you are, officiating in any and all sports has been a concern for those who are more focused on winning than pure sportsmanship.

A sad fact to mention given all the fighting and negative reflection many show in a world where we are or should be teaching today’s youth the meaning of sportsmanship.

Since the beginning of time sports have constantly been changing or revising the rules they have in place for the betterment of the game as well as future players.

Coaches should instill sportsmanship and not just focus on winning at all cost, which shows that they are more focused on winning than anything else.

As we approach the upcoming hockey season a plan has been put in place to attract more on-ice officials back to the program, considering that they have lost vast numbers since Covid hit.

BC Hockey has made a change for the cost which is listed on their site reporting that the $5.00 Hockey University (HU) fee associated with the eLearning module has been subsidized from $25.00 as part of an officiating recruitment initiative exclusive to the 2022-2023 season.

The HU registration fee is in addition to all applicable HCOP level 1 or level 2 certification fee(s) and BC Hockey participant assessment fees (if required) that will accompany your registration for an in-person certification clinic. 

While Hockey Canada is in a turmoil at present we are fortunate to have Dan Hanoomansingh as the Managing of Officiating along with others to develop both male and female officials for the betterment of Canada’s game.

It is also important to note that when you register for a Hockey University course that it is automatically associated with the HCR Profile you are registering with. 

The sad part is that parents fail to understand that in most cases the officials are young kids and don’t think twice about shouting abuse, but if someone was to shout abuse at their son or daughter it’d be a different story.

Prior to having an adult, and I use that term loose berating any official, think twice; they are only kids doing a kids game. 

Someday your son or daughter might want to officiate so ask yourself – Would you want to hear abuse directed at your child from the stands?

The following info is from Hockey Canada’s Manager of Officiating.

Enjoy the read:

This past month, we launched a brand-new officiating curriculum. 

This type of long-term project doesn’t lend itself as nicely to a tweet (like events) but it’s absolutely the most important thing we’re doing, as a program. 

I’d like to share six highlights of the project here 

1. Why a new curriculum? 

There wasn’t an “old” curriculum to replace. Programs did their own thing, which was inefficient and led to 1000s of hours expended by volunteers doing similar work in silos. An inefficient use of our precious volunteer hours and a missed opportunity.

2) The curriculum is “outcome-based”.

It is focused on what the official is required to actually do on the ice. The goal is that the official leaves the clinic with a better understanding of officiating skills. Less focus on testing knowledge, and more focus on assessing ability

3. The curriculum is official-centered.

The learning activities are designed to actively engage the official in their own learning. While it is sometimes necessary to sit and receive information, officials should spend the majority of their clinic actually *doing* something.

4. The curriculum is adaptable.

The pandemic created new challenges and opened up new opportunities. For some, remote delivery via Zoom is the most effective option. For others, a return to in-person learning cannot come soon enough. Our resources can be deployed in

5. The curriculum is flexible. An instructor can never be sure how the session will go until they do it — sometimes a group needs more time with a concept, or is more advanced than expected. Our resources are designed to fit & be adapted to a variety of instructional challenges

6. How did this happen? 

I piloted this project over the line but it’s not my victory. So much credit goes to the volunteers who sank thousands of hours into this project and to the instructors and leaders who will now deliver the curriculum from coast to coast to coast.

And of course, none of this happens without the support of our 13 Members from conception to implementation.

Sportswave only hopes that we can get some officials to return to the program

Thanks to Dan for the info.