USA Hockey Adult Hockey

Like any adult hockey players around the country, those who compete in the Regency Hockey League (RHL) in Lancaster, Penn., have issues with officiating from time to time.

Regency Ice Rink general manager/owner Ray Ferry hears that the referees aren’t putting in the effort that they do for a junior or youth games, where there are many more spectators. Or sometimes players accuse the officials of going through the motions, especially since adult league games start late at night.

“One of the common complaints has always been refereeing at every level, but in particular the men’s league,” Ferry said.

On the other side of the spectrum, officials sometimes run into problems with players bickering with refs about calls or playing overly aggressive in an attempt to injure an opponent.

To help try and alleviate the issues, Ferry wanted to come up with a solution. Ferry, who sits on the adult council for USA Hockey, implemented a pilot program in the RHL where players can fill out an evaluation card to either vent their frustration about a certain official or incidents from a game, or to give praise to a referee. The officials can also fill out a card if they have any problems with a player.

“I thought it might be an opportunity to hold both sides accountable and to make each entity realize that the other one’s kind of watching them,” Ferry said. “It wasn’t an attack on the referees or a way to monitor the referees as much as it was to kind of serve the adult community hockey players by cleaning up the game.”

The evaluation cards are available where teams pick up their scoresheets, and individuals can drop a card into a locked box that only Ferry can access. Captains of the teams are the only ones who are asked to fill out the cards as a representative for their team.

The card has five categories on it: Was the referee on time? Yes or no. Effort level: good, fair or poor. Game awareness: good, fair or poor. Knowledge of the rules: good, fair or poor. How was the fairness and communication?

There is also spot at the bottom of the card where players can further elaborate about a specific incident or official.

League president and referee Joe Garrett said that when his fellow referees heard about the program they were apprehensive. There was a fear that players might be out to go after a certain referee.

“Once things calmed down and people realized the objective, the officials were very embracing of it and the players were happy to have an outlet where they can at least share their thoughts,” said Garrett, who has been a referee in the league for 12 years.

Garrett and his referee partner were the first duo to work a game with the program in place, and he said everything went smoothly.

When the program first got under way, there was some friendly bantering from both sides.

“The players were kind of kidding the referees at first saying, ‘Hey, if you don’t do a good job we’re going to fill a card out on you,’ jokingly,” Ferry said. “And the referees were kind of doing the same thing.”

The players in the league embraced the new program quickly.

“We love it. We think it’s a great idea,” said Wil Younger, who is the team captain for RigWizRock. “It’s a great way to kind of make sure everyone’s accountable. It’s really nice because the refs control a lot of what happens on the ice, but it’s hard for them to be held accountable until you have issues.”

Younger and his teammates have not had any issues with officiating since the program was implemented in early December. In past years, Younger said team encountered multiple problems with officiating.

According to Younger, it wasn’t uncommon for he and his teammates to get on the ice for a game and see who was referring and say things under their breath about the officials.

“Fewer and fewer of those comments have been happening since this was put in place, to be honest,” Younger said.

In fact, league-wide complaints have been down. Ferry has only received three evaluation cards — and two were positive toward the officials. Garrett and Younger both believe the officials and players are making more of a conscience effort to improve.

Ferry is going to continue with the program and he hopes other leagues nationwide follow suit.

“If USA Hockey takes the lead on it and just offers the idea — but USA Hockey doesn’t necessarily need to be involved with it in terms of the administration of it — the league president and local referees may see the value in it,” Ferry said.

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.