Once a year for about 10 years I have spent a weekend locked in an Edmonton High School with a class of North Zone Officials. For the past 2 years I have had an instructor stand up at the front of the room and preach to us about the importance of dedication to officiating. Each time he has told us that Friday and Saturday nights are forfeit from September to March. He attempts to shame the class into never saying no to an assignment and he holds himself up as an example telling us his wife just knows she will have to wait until the summer to spend time with him. Both times I've heard this speech and thought to myself: "well that's a load of crap".
Maybe I'm being unfair, this is an instructor who has accomplished more in officiating than I may even be capable of doing. He is respected and well liked, to the best of my knowledge, and as far as I can tell his wife loves him and respects his choice for free time activities. However, I can't help but think that when you do nothing but referee in your free time you end up worse for the wear.
This year like every other year I went to my clinic and I learnt from the experienced and kowledgable people in that room and I came away from the weekend a better offcial. This year like every other year I looked forward to seeing people I hadn't seen for months. This year like every other year was excited about my first games and about moving up in the ranks. This year however, I did something completely different. Instead of answering phone calls and saying yes to every game offered, I limited myself to no more than 3 games a week. I also limited the nights I would referee so that I always had a concrete idea of when I was going to be on the ice and when I could spend time with my wife and friends. Strangely enough this is the first year in about 5 or 6 years that February has come and gone without me being sick and tired of officiating. For once I go to the arena at the end of the year with a genuine intrest in being on the ice.
When I talk to guys doing 20 or 25 games a month they don't seem to be enjoying themselves anymore. For these officials has it become a second job? Has it become an unlikeable chore? Are they so burnt out by the end of the year that they aren't performing at their peak for the most important games (playoffs)? I know when I used to always say yes that is exactly how I would feel when February rolled around. I'd be burnt out, unexcited and unenthusiastic about going to the arena. I have solved my problem but I think a problem remains.
This year the instructor who delivered the dedication speech also asked us why we thought we were losing officials after only one year of being in the program. At the time I might have said "the abuse from coaches and fans", or I might have pointed out that per hour they weren't making all that much money (I would have been wrong $19 for a atom game is a good hourly rate). But as I happily returned from my game tonight I realized perhaps its not the outside elements that affect these first year officials. Maybe the internal pressure to do as many games as possible is driving them away. Perhaps they are getting the same burnt out, unexcited and unenthusiastic feeling going to the rink that I have had and they don't have enough invested in officiating to keep them interested.
Could this be why we lose referees? Maybe first years and veterans alike are realizing that something that is done mostly for the fun of doing it isn't fun anymore. I suspect if everyone took the same approach as me to doing hockey there would be a serious lack of officials during the busy weeks of the year. I don't honestly believe it is the right solution for everyone, but maybe it is worth looking into limiting the first years number of times on the ice per week. Even just teaching them to take it easy could reduce the drop out rate. This would help spread the hockey around to different officials and would keep guys from spending all weekend at the arena and burning out before the end of the season. I could be wrong, but it helped me.
