Darren Campbell
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Apr 02/01) - Hockey referees are just trying to do the best job they can. They can do without the looks, complaints and catcalls from players and fans. But that's the reality of the game. Carey Tremblay knows, he was once grabbed by the neck by an irate coach who didn't like the way he called a game.
 Carey Tremblay |
Has the abuse always been like this or is it worse now than in the past?
Carey Tremblay: I don't think it has got any worse in the past 15 or 20 years. I think there's more awareness. Also, the position the CHA (Canadian Hockey Association) takes on abuse of officials is zero tolerance. That's the way it is supposed to be.
If you look at me and just gesture disgust over a call I made - that's abuse, whether you like it or agree with it, that is abuse.
YKLife: Some people would disagree with that. They would say, 'Well, I didn't say anything, I didn't shout anything, how is that abusive?
CT: It's all the little things that go on that force officials to hang up the skates. It's all the little things you do, on an icing or an offside call. I've got a guy on my case because either I called it or didn't call it. Come on, I didn't intentionally make a call against what I think is right. I did it because that is what I saw. I don't need somebody in my face every single whistle.
YKLife: Is that what is the determining factor in officials quitting?
CT: Yes, it is a lot of little things and then usually it's one big incident like a crucial call in a game where they get (abuse) that usually drives them away. So, it's almost like the nail in the coffin.
Yes, we are paid for what we do but we don't get paid a whole lot. Refereeing is supposed to be fun. That's why I do it and that's why others do it. Once you stop having fun, it's not fair for you or the players to be out there as a referee.
YKLife: How did you end up becoming a referee?
CT: I was a player and I moved to Inuvik and they had full contact hockey, which I hadn't played much because I had done my minor hockey in Yellowknife. I got up there and it was almost like goon hockey.
I got out the first game or two and just got rocked. I basically picked up my stuff and walked off and thought, 'No, that's it, I've had enough. But I want to stay in the game.'
I saw officiating as a way to stay in the game. The first year I officiated in Inuvik I took a lot of abuse. I was once attacked by a coach, a 350-pound massive coach - I was probably 130-pounds wet at the time. The coach approached me after the game and didn't like the way I called it and he picked me up by the throat, held me up against the bleachers, off my skates in front of everybody. I don't know why I didn't hang up my skates then.
YKLife: Yes, I would think that would make most people quit.
CT: Why I kept going I don't know but that's an extreme case, you don't normally see that. But young referees and old referees need less and less reasons to walk away these days. There not going anywhere as officials.
It's like you as a player, you're not going anywhere. It is strictly recreation and because it's recreation they don't want to put up with it. Why should I get dressed in 40 below weather, fire up my vehicle, drive to the arena and listen to guys bitch at me all night?
They've got valid points, a lot of them have valid points but, hey, I'm one guy out here trying to do everything or it's two of us and were just trying to do the best job we can.
We make brutal calls and we make great calls. But the respect has to be there. We have to get the respect of the players and I don't know how to get it.
YKLife: What is the end result of officials not getting that respect and taking abuse?
CT: We're losing kids because of it and also adults now because of it. We're losing the referees that have all the experience.
They're walking away from the game in droves throughout Canada.
We're losing that experience and that is a crucial part of our program that we've spent years to build.
You lose that experience very fast and there is no one to develop the young kids.
YKLife: Developing young kids and keeping them is a big goal for your association. Why do you have trouble doing that?
CT: The problem with the kids is you get them when they are 14 or 15 and you get them for a year or two. You go out and try to encourage them and bring them along. Then all of a sudden they have a choice. They can go ref rec hockey for six or seven bucks an hour or they can go flip burgers for the same money and not have to put up with the abuse. That is why we lose a lot of the kids.
It's that crucial 16-20 range. If you start them when they are 14 and still have them when they are 20, you probably have them for a lot of years. It's that age in between - you know what kids are like, they don't like hassles, they don't like conflict.
YKLife: How do you stop the abuse that causes kids to leave officiating? Is it a matter of tossing a fan from the arena if they are yelling at the refs from the stands?
CT: That's being done more and more. I think we have minor hockey under control here. We still need to work on it but they're doing very well.
It's the rec hockey that concerns me in Yellowknife and that is where officials seem to be walking. They (the players) just need to let us do our game.
Don't play us, you've got the other team to play. If we make a brutal call, let us make a brutal call.
If you want to make a comment make a constructive comment. Don't come up and criticize us, don't make sarcastic comments, don't belittle us.
YKLife: How do you try to gain respect from players and how can other officials do that?
CT: That is where the experience comes in and unfortunately it takes a lot of years to get that. A lot of it is players knowing you and knowing you won't put up with it or knowing you will make the call if you have to. Players test the waters and see what they can get away with.
What works for me is to talk to the players a lot, let them know you are there, remind them you are there. When you holler to them to stop doing something in a lot of cases gains more respect than calling a penalty.
You've got to stand by your word. If you say you are going to do something, you do it. That works well for me.
YKLife: You said earlier officiating should be fun. When is refereeing a hockey game fun for an official like yourself?
CT: I guess a fun game for me is a game where I'm able to do what I'm out there to do without being criticized for it. Just having the respect from the players to do that, them allowing me to ref the game without criticizing. Those are fun games.
YKLife: Many people seem reluctant to become referees. How does your association entice people to become a hockey ref?
CT: We don't do a lot of recruiting. We just sort of throw it out there. We put posters up and we call people to see if they are interested. The individuals have to want it initially.
Fulfillment and satisfaction are some of the things I get out of officiating.
Even now in minor hockey I really enjoy the challenge. I can still enjoy the intensity of a game as a referee because I get just as intense as the players sometimes. It's an adrenaline rush, it's the same as the players. I'm part of the game.
Some of the enticements we use to get people involved would be just learning another aspect of the game.
Or knowing the rules a lot better than you think you do. But you have to want to be an official. I don't know how else to put it.
Blowing the whistle
It's estimated 11,000 of Canada's 33,000 hockey referees quit every year.
- 80 per cent of those quitting are teenagers and they are quitting because they don't want to put up with abuse at the arena from players, coaches and fans.
- There are 30 referees in Yellowknife. Of those, 15 officiate rec hockey and the rest cover all other games.
- Carey Tremblay is referee-in-chief for Hockey North and president of the Yellowknife Referee's Association. He has been a referee for 14 years.