HHA’s 35 youth refs making calls on their peers

• Bradley Pettee prepares to drop the puck

Bradley Pettee gets ready to drop the puck on a faceoff for one of his first times. Photo by Joe Winter
• Conor Dougherty sidesteps other skaters

Conor Dougherty sidesteps other skaters while keeping his eye on the action during his officiating inauguration. Photo by Joe Winter

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The Hudson Hockey Association now has certified 35 youth referees, which is a two-step process done through a USA Hockey Officiating Program.

Hopefuls first attend an all-day seminar, then must pass USA Hockey officiating’s online open-book exam. The seminar includes seven hours of classroom instruction and one hour of on-ice training.

Classroom teaching covers information in the USA Hockey Official Rules and Casebook of Ice Hockey, on which the open book exam questions are based. It includes demonstrations to learn the arm signals used to make officiating calls.

During on-ice training, students are taught the proper way to call off-sides and icing, and how to do proper referee stops. Students also learn where they are suppose to be during the game; for example, referees are almost always supposed to position themselves diagonally from each other. That way, between the two of them, referees can see almost all the angles of the game.

The following exam consists of 50 questions, and students need to score at least a 35 to pass. Some students take the test with a parent’s help, while others do it on their own. The test is called quite difficult and requires the student to look up most questions in the Official Rules and Casebook.

Once a student passes, they receive their official referee card, and turn this in to the HHA Referee-in-Chief, Al Wurtzberger, who does scheduling of referees. Those younger than 16 can officiate Squirt C and Mite games. Referees 16 years and older can do Squirt and PeeWee games. Generally, a referee can officiate at games two levels below them, but never for their own age group.

HHA referees are paid based on the level of game they officiate.

Tags: sports, hudson, hockey, youth, referees