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Next weekend, I am going to be speaking at the invitation of USA / Mass Hockey to an audience of a couple hundred hockey coaches at a Level 4 seminar. The invite is an outgrowth of a blog I wrote in August on the topic of officiating for the good and the future of the game.
Hmmm, 200 coaches and me? Seems like a fair ratio!
All kidding aside, I am thrilled to do it. This is a small but important step in the right direction. We have a major and worsening problem with the recruitment and retention of referees and linesmen at all levels. There are too many games to assign and an insufficient pool from which to select qualified officials. There are missed opportunities for summer clinics and a big problem with holding seminars in October in that it further depletes the available pool because their attendance commitments and obligations.
The result is that we over-rely on our available people. Case in point: I had no choice recently but to assign my best skater to 15 games over a two-day period. He was exhausted, and understandably so. That is not sustainable and it is not fair.
The hopeful sign is that there are many bright hockey people out there -- folks involved in the game from a variety of different positions including administration and coaching as well as the officiating side, the business end and other aspects. Starting meaningful dialogue is the only way to come up with solutions, and recognizing that there's a problem and getting going on the process of putting our collective heads together is a vital starting place.
The game at all levels needs cooperation and communication between all groups. This a solid step in the right direction. Looking forward to being with the 200+ coaches and others from USA Hockey.
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Paul Stewart holds the distinction of being the first U.S.-born citizen to make it to the NHL as both a player and referee. On March 15, 2003, he became the first American-born referee to officiate in 1,000 NHL games.