By Mike Barrett, AHAI Referee-in-Chief
The hockey season is right around the corner and for a dedicated group of hockey people, it comes sooner than for most of the hockey community. Yes, yes, yes I am speaking about the officials.
Each year, in order to maintain their “complete” status, all USA Hockey officials must register and attend a day-long seminar. Our registration to do so commences August 1 and this year is no exception.
Last year, a group from Illinois produced an online video presentation which registering officials were required to watch prior to attending their seminar. The online portion of the registration process was a huge success and officials universally commented that the presentation was quite helpful to them. This year, USA Hockey is producing its own online video portion and all officials will view the online section.
Additionally, there are other requirements for Illinois officials to complete. They include the following:
USA Hockey is in the process of producing electives for level-specific officials. These electives are supposed to include positioning; aggressive penalty criteria; penalty shots; etc. And, of course, the USA Hockey SafeSport modules must be successfully taken.
The following identify the four levels of officiating and the requirements for each level:
LEVEL 1
- Must complete online Membership Registration
- Must attain an Open Book Exam score of 35/50 (or higher)
- Must attend and complete a Level 1 officiating seminar sanctioned by USA Hockey
- Must complete online Level 1 seminar curriculum (2 hours)
- Must complete SafeSport training every two years (if 18 years old or older)
LEVEL 2
- Must complete online Membership Registration
- Must have been Level 1 or higher (Complete) within the last two seasons
- Must attain an Open Book Exam score of 85/100 (or higher)
- Must attain a Level 2 Closed Book Exam score of 24/30 (or higher)
- Must attend and complete a Level 2 officiating seminar sanctioned by USA Hockey
- Must complete online Level 2 seminar curriculum (3 hours)
- Must complete SafeSport training every two years (if 18 years old or older)
LEVEL 3
- Must complete online Membership Registration
- Must have been Level 2 or higher (Complete) during previous season
- Must attain an Open Book Exam score of 90/100 (or higher)
- Must attain a Level 3 Closed Book Exam score of 40/50 (or higher)
- Must attend and complete an officiating seminar administrated by USA Hockey
- Must complete online Level 3 seminar curriculum (4 hours)
- Must complete SafeSport training every two years (if 18 years old or older)
LEVEL 4
- Must complete online Membership Registration
- Must have been Level 3 or 4 (Complete) last season
- Must attain an Open Book Exam score of 90/100
- Must attain a Level 4 Closed Book Exam score of 40/50
- Must complete a Level 4 USA Hockey officiating seminar each season, and pass Level 4 Skating Exam
- Must complete online Level 4 seminar curriculum (3 hours)
- Must complete SafeSport training every two years (if 18 years old or older).
- Must arrange to have an evaluation completed, while officiating a high level game, by a trained USA Hockey Evaluator at least once during the current calendar year.
As you can see from the above, there are quite a few items which every official must complete every year in order to maintain their eligibility to officiate our great game.
I hope you enjoy the rest of the summer and if you are a returning official or someone who is interested in officiating, please head to the IHOA website (www.ihoa.com) for further registration details.
Categories: Officials