Officiating Task Force Looks to Help Curb Abuse of Officials with Reporting Portal

“Not to the point where we’ve had to cancel too many games,” Atkinson said. “But Michigan is an area that hosts a lot of invitational tournaments due to our proximity to Canada.”

The problem of the decline in the number of officials and the abuse are very real problems, Atkinson added.

“It’s something that we have to get our arms around,” Atkinson said. “A lot of young officials don’t want to deal with that. It’s not fun for them.”

As a result of those discussions, the 12-person officiating committee made up of folks in various aspects of USA Hockey was formed in November with the purpose to reviewing everything related to officiating. They meet weekly to discuss things related to how officiating affects hockey.

The group looks at what it can do to retain and recruit new officials or past officials who may have left the game, Joyce said.

The decline in officials and the abuse of officials are intertwined issues the task force dug into. They wanted to look into the reasons for the overall decline in the number of officials out there. Abuse is one of the factors, along with the education requirements for officials and access to games.

“Abuse may have been the initial first idea,” Joyce said. “But as we dive deeper, we find that there are other issues in other areas that need to be looked into and then, can we make them better or more accessible, so that we can keep and retain our officials.”

It may seem simple and obvious, but without officials, hockey players can’t play games. The officials are out there to manage a safe game for all involved, and the task force is set to help with that.

“It’s repairing the relationship,” Joyce said. “I think it’s developing respect. I think at some point along the way, we lost a little focus as far as the officials’ involvement in the game.”  

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.