OFFICIATING
Becoming a hockey official is a great way for people of all ages, from 10 - 10 at heart.
Becoming an Official
Officials 11-17years of age (as of Dec 31st of the current year) are eligible to join the program.
We host a New officials clinic in late September or October depending on instructor and ice time availability. There is only ONE clinic annually. Please do not ask for additional options, there are none.
Fill it out google form to be added to the next clinic invitation list: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSch55O45UsixU-NEu2n6KxQY84DBvyR9NrG2VQItdKfvzW8Vg/viewform?usp=sharing
ALL new officials have to complete an Online Pre-requisite called "Learning Lab". The learning lab content is basic rules and information about Hockey. Most players over the age of 11 will be able to complete this course in 1.5-2 hours. You can choose to stop and start the course to break it up into segments if required.
Please find the link:
https://page.spordle.com/bch/clinics/1ef42d09-9924-67e2-a0e5-02600a5612ed
New Officials In-Person clinics are the ONLY hosted by the Minor Hockey Associations to recruit and hire their New officials.
In-person clinics include two components:
Component 1: In-classroom for theory, rules knowledge and Exam.
Component 2: On-ice for positioning, puckdroping and physical skills instruction.
Both components are MANDATORY to pass the course.
After the New Officials Clinic expectations:
New officials in the age of 11-12 are deployed in the Hockey 2/3/4 (U7,U8, U9) games that are normally played on weekend mornings from 7 AM – 11 AM depending on the posted schedule. There are occasional evening games on both weekends and weekdays but not on a regular basis. It is extremely important that young new officials and parents have accurate expectations of what to come in their first years of officiating. The standard would include face offs, goals procedures and “penalties” which is a very loose term in Hockey 2/3/4 (U7,U8, U9).
New officials between the ages of 13-16 are normally deployed in Atom C (U11C) to start until they have become comfortable with the basics (Positioning and procedures such as Icings, Offsides, Penalties). They will then be moved into Atom Rep (U11A) or Peewee C (U13C) to gain experience in a more competitive environment.
Newer officials are generally used as Linespeople first than after some experience will get an opportunity to referee, if they are comfortable.
New officials between the age of 17-18 are normally deployed in U13C to start and get their “feet wet”. These officials normally pick up the basics pretty quick and move into U15/U18C and maybe some Rep, if they show signs of being comfortable quickly.
We aim to be as transparent as possible when it comes to expectations. Young first year officials will expect 2-3 games per month to start However that depends on your schedule being flexible and scheduled appropriately in our scheduling system in advance and frequently updated. We hire a large amount of first years because we generally see a 30-50% decline year over year until year 3. We have tried many strategies for recruitment such as lowering the number of officials to try and give more games to smaller groups but that generally backfires as most of the age group of young officials play on the same teams and have similar availability because of that and that requires us to have a larger group to fill games. In later years (Years 3,4 and later) games will become more available because of the officials age and comfort for the job improve year over year.
Expectation to invest in affordable equipment.
Officials require another set of equipment such as a helmet with visor, whistle, skates that don't translate to their playing equipment in a small duffle bag.
Required Equipment:
Helmet - Black with CSA Approved half shield visor (Oaklys are not CSA approved visors)
Skates - Must be player skates. No goaltender skates permitted. Toe spike is a hazard for players that might fall into an official's feet in a puck battle.
Black Pants (suggested waterproof pants) - These can be snow pants, or track pants they can even be Team pants but THEY CANNOT have ANY team related Logos or Text. Player name and number is okay, if need be.
Jersey: Any vertically striped referee jersey is okay but I'd suggest you buy one with snap on armbands. Can be found at any local and sometimes on second platforms such as marketplace and similar.
Other equipment recommended:
Small Shin pads (like ball hockey, mountain bike or even soccer shin guards is a great place to start)
Elbow pads: does not need to be playing elbows but something small and light weight is all you need.
Certification is ANNUALLY REQUIRED to maintain the official certification.
Returning Officials clinics are hosted by BC Hockey annually between September and November (known as Clinic Season). To find instructions in later years please refer to the next section.
Returning officials over the age of 18 require a Criminal Record check every 3 years. The registration will prompt you if your CRC is outdated and requires an update.
Link: https://www.bchockey.net/member-info/applications/criminal-record-check
Once registered and clinic is attended and passed, you are good to start working games. Officials that certified the previous year can work assignments prior to their clinic completion. Please see my highlighted note below.
Reminder - Officials certification is 1.5 years in duration. When an official certifies in October of 2023, that certification is active until Dec 31st 2024.
Returning officials must attend a clinic in the fall to maintain certification to extend the certification beyond the 1.5 year threshold. Annually BC Hockey hosts returning official clinics from Sep through November across the province.
Link to find active BC Hockey courses: https://register.hockeycanada.ca/clinics
Officials that previously Officiated under Hockey Canada in the past (2000 and onwards) require their Hockey Canada Registry number.
Contact BC Hockey Head office at Clinics@bchockey.net, to find out your HCR # from the archives. You need this to register with any previous certification experience. Without this information you will have to start from scratch as a brand new official.
Reminder - Officials certification is 1.5 years in duration. When an official certifies in October of 2023, that certification is active until Dec 31st 2024.
Returning officials must attend a clinic in the fall to maintain certification to extend the certification beyond the 1.5 year threshold. Annually BC Hockey hosts returning official clinics from Sep through November across the province.
Link to find active BC Hockey courses: https://register.hockeycanada.ca/clinics
NVMHA Applicants List: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSch55O45UsixU-NEu2n6KxQY84DBvyR9NrG2VQItdKfvzW8Vg/viewform?usp=sharing
BC Hockey: https://www.bchockey.net/officials/getting-started
BC Hockey Criminal Record Check: https://www.bchockey.net/member-info/applications/criminal-record-check
PCAHA: https://www.pcaha.ca/referees/index.php
Hockey Canada Learning Lab: https://page.spordle.com/bch/clinics/1ef42d09-9924-67e2-a0e5-02600a5612ed
Reminder - Officials certification is 1.5 years in duration. When an official certifies in October of 2023, that certification is active until Dec 31st 2024.
Returning officials must attend a clinic in the fall to maintain certification to extend the certification beyond the 1.5 year threshold. Annually BC Hockey hosts returning official clinics from Sep through November across the province.
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