From the Pres

Up the Creek Without a Paddle

We're all in this together. All for one and one for all. United we stand......divided we fall.

What do these old sayings have to do with officiating Ice Hockey? I hope to get there in a minute, but please indulge me while I rant.

The Ice Hockey community is a very small segment of the organized sports playing body in the Houston area. That body I refer to includes every sport played at any level in an organized manner. Football, Baseball, Basketball, Softball, Soccer, Rugby, Field Hockey, Ice Hockey and a few more that do not come to mind right now. These sports are have participants of all ages from youths to seniors, and most of these sports are played in the schools around the state and across the country. Those sports such as Rugby, Field Hockey and Ice Hockey are not recognized UIL sports in Texas, and the schools do not field teams for UIL competition in those sports at this time. There are club teams for some of the schools, in fact several of the ISHL teams have "Club Team" status with their individual campuses, and several more are trying to achieve that goal.

At this point you are wondering, "OK, so what's this got to do with us?". In order for all of the above mentioned sports to have games played in organized leagues there must be game officials (Referees, Umpires, Linesmen, whatever their title may be for that sport). For without the game officials there would be no game. So from all of the enthusiasts of each sport there is a very small percentage who want to officiate their respective games. I officiate Ice Hockey, and I also officiate Jr. High and High School Football. I am in that group of a very small percentage who want to officiate. Why do I officiate? I officiate because I enjoy the sports that I work. I officiate because I enjoy working with the kids. Most of them are refreshing to be around and make working the games pleasurable. I certainly do not officiate for the money. Don't get me wrong, the money is incentive to work, but the time going to and from the games, the time spent on training, meetings, and yearly certification seminars, and the time away from my family is not even close to being compensated by the earnings from working the games.

I have gone on about the things I like about officiating, now I will discuss the opposite aspects. What is it I do not like? I do not like coaches who use the official as their whipping boy in order to "fire up" their team. I do not like the abusive player (usually an adult) who is all over the game officials. I do not like officials who make up the rules as they go or who abuse their power when properly challenged.. I do not like officials who will not communicate with the players and coaches. I do not like parents who do not understand the rules of the game but constantly berate the game officials.

I have heard it said that there are 3 teams on the ice, the court, or the field. There is the Home Team, the Visiting Team, and the Officiating Team. Is the Officiating Team only comprised of only the on-ice officials? No, the other members of the Officiating Team include the Scorekeeper, Timekeeper, Penalty Box attendants, Goal Judges. In football, the 3rd team members include the Chain Crew, Clock Operator and 25 Second Clock Operator. Let's see.......are there any more members of the Officiating Team I have left out? How about the officials who are watching the game but are not involved in that game? Those officials may be assigned to the next game and are just watching the early game, or they may be supervising the game, or those officials may be parents with a child playing in that game who are merely spectators. In each and every one of these circumstances it is absolutely critical that we show support for our team. If you openly criticize the on-ice officials then you have undermined the credibility of our entire organization. If an error is made by the game officials, it is your responsibility to question the error. But you should not do it publicly. Respectfully question the error in the privacy of the officials locker room or by e-mail or phone call. I guarantee that if you are a supervisor, or if you are a parent with a child playing the game, most everyone in the stands knows who you are, and that you are an official. Our Ice Hockey community is a very small tight knit group. If you publicly question the ability of the game officials then you have done a great disservice for your Officiating Team. Once the damage is done, it is not easily undone.

Our team consists of only 70-80 officials to cover many games. If your actions cause just one official to stop officiating then you have done us a great disservice.

So remember, we're all in this together. All for one and one for all. United we stand......divided we fall. We are all in the same boat and we don't want to be Up the Creek Without a Paddle; otherwise, the rapids coming up around the bend will take us all out.