PEABODY ― With the high school hockey season just around the corner, the commonwealth is struggling to find referees.
Massachusetts Hockey President Bob Joyce recently sent out a statement explaining that the state is currently dealing with a severe referee shortage. The organization has lost 900 referees since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The referee pool is dwindling, and we need to take steps in a positive manner to reverse this,” said Joyce. ” Our officials are everyday people just like our parents, who have real jobs but try to work a side job to help our kids play a game, earn a little extra income, and give back to the game. It would appear that many people, for whatever reason, have lost this understanding and somehow believe that our officials need to be at the same level as what they see on TV at the college or NHL level.”
The main culprit of the dropoff is abuse from parents, coaches, and players. Since the start of the youth season, the organization has already had to deal with some serious situations, such as a young female referee quitting in the middle of a set of games due to parent harassment and a referee needing a police escort after an 8U game.
The organization reiterated that itself along with USA Hockey has a zero-tolerance policy for abuse of officials. Coaches and players can be suspended and parents can be banned from attending future games.
“Again, we ask you to practice patience and good judgement,” said Mass Hockey. “The children are all watching us and following our example. We all need to make a better effort to respect the officials and keep them working.”
Tyler Conrad, a Peabody resident, has officiated youth hockey games in the North Shore and around Massachusetts for four years. While he admitted that some parents, coaches, and players can mouth off, in his experience he has had mostly positive encounters.
“Ninety-nine percent of the time when you give someone respect you get it back,” he said.
Conrad likes to get himself in a good mood before games and introduce himself to parents and coaches in order to build more of a familiar relationship with the group to try and prevent instances of abuse.
“I skate hard, I’m respectful to everybody, I have a good time with the kids and then usually they work with me,” he said.
If you are interested in becoming an official, visit https://www.mahockey.org/maofficials.
