What makes a good beer league ref?

[Hermans 9]

Ihave come to the realization that the league and quality of ref's makes a big difference in the quality of the game....

My observations, in an order that somewhat resembles my preferences, are...

1) open the mouth; the ref' should be talking all the time and letting the players know what is expected ("loose puck, play it", "keep the sticks down or the next one in the next minute or two is a penalty", "hold up and don't hit him (as you close on the d'man) or else", etc

- I think the vocal policy is number one

2) skate with the play

- beer league ref's seem to be behind the play too often. Yeah, after a number of games you're legs are tired too but keep the legs movings so you can call the off-side

3) Impartial sense of humour

- joking between the ref's or generic jokes are fine; don't joke with a team about the game. That stirs up up an "us against them and the ref's" attitude which is never good

4) recognize and take no bullshit

- Ejection of idiocracy

- Ejection of drunks

- punish excessive chirping with a minor and let both team know "next chirping player gets the another 2 minutes"

5) lastly and most importantly

as long as lower level players aren't acting reckless or attempting to harm then let a lower level player have some margin of error against a higher level player. Examples would be a bit of body rubbing, a small hook, but not wild hacks or slashes, no raising of sticks or hands, no clutching, etc. If a lower level player can be close enough to play the higher level player hard but isn't dirty then there should be some allowance.

Thoughts?

Maybe a ref's "things players do" post would be appropriate?

[Chadd 916]

Consistency and honesty go a long way towards making the game easier to manage.

[Jason Harris 31]

Biggest thing I found when I played, and therefore made sure I provided when I reffed, is communication. Allowing players to question a call -- preferably respectfully -- and giving them a sincere reason why a call was made or missed. Quite a few times, it might take five minutes before I had the opportunity to tell someone who had yelled about a non-call, "I'm sorry, but I was focusing elsewhere, so I didn't see what happened to you." Maybe I was closing in to see if a goal was scored, or if the puck crossed the blue line, or whether the goalie had possession.

[zebra_steve 11]

How about a ref that is there for more than just collecting his $$$$. One that has fun with the player but takes his job reasonably serious, acts professional but is not a surly dick, can manage the game and call what needs called (BUT NOT NECESSARILY EVERYTHING THAT COULD be called by the letter of the book) - Calls the big 4, obvious penalties, injury potential, change of possession or loss of scoring opportunity.

[BenderHockey 127]

How about a ref that is there for more than just collecting his $$$$. One that has fun with the player but takes his job reasonably serious, acts professional but is not a surly dick, can manage the game and call what needs called (BUT NOT NECESSARILY EVERYTHING THAT COULD be called by the letter of the book) - Calls the big 4, obvious penalties, injury potential, change of possession or loss of scoring opportunity.

Maybe that's the problem, letting them call what they feel is necessary, as opposed to calling what they should. If you hold everyone to the same black and white standard, things run much more smoothly than letting everyone decide what they want to call. USA Hockey tried something like that, with the new standards. Too bad none of the officials in our leagues are held to it.

[chk hrd 164]

A ref that respects the game and the players. These guys usually get the players respect back. Nothing worse than a ref who thinks they are high and mighty and above the game. Players can question a call in a respectful manner. Nothing bothers me more than a ref who won't communicate without being an A-Hole. I especially like a ref who lets you know what's going on; is it to much to yell offsides, icing, watch the sticks or the crease, etc. I would rather have a ref who lets the game flow by not calling every little thing but is consistent.

[Captain Sane 2]

I think communication is probably the most important thing for a ref in rec league. Where I play the refs won't talk to the players much. My biggest gripe is icing calls since we have a running clock. They won't yell "Icing! or Ice!" when they're about to call icing or won't yell something when they call it off. It's pretty frustrating for me since I've been playing a while and have kind of took it for granted that refs would communicate in that way. Consistency is also a big thing, IMO, in our league it seems like they let us play for two periods and then start calling penalties in the 3rd.

[Kevin 5]

I think a referee should call matters consistently. It is not the referee's job to rectify team and player inequities; those are issues for the league.

5) lastly and most importantly

as long as lower level players aren't acting reckless or attempting to harm then let a lower level player have some margin of error against a higher level player. Examples would be a bit of body rubbing, a small hook, but not wild hacks or slashes, no raising of sticks or hands, no clutching, etc. If a lower level player can be close enough to play the higher level player hard but isn't dirty then there should be some allowance.

Thoughts?

[ibeck 38]

The best refs in my league are the guys that

•communicate with the players i.e ( yelling I got the call dont get him back)

•will give explanations on goals not allowed or penalties

•skates and is at the blue for off-sides and around the net for goals

•doesnt try to run the show

[shoeshine boy 241]

don't act like it's a PITA for you to be there just because it's the lowest level of adult league. I play in the next to lowest level in my league and we suck. we know it, we're not stupid. just because we're not AAA level players doesn't mean that we need the ref to act like we dragged him/her there in chains to officiate our game. we paid the same amount of money as the AAA guys so we deserve to at least not feel bad that you're out there with us.

not all of us were lucky enough to be born on skates.

[rachael7 1]

I'd prefer to have a ref that calls things by the book, rather than going 'on feel'. A lot of the lower league refs seem to be really casual about stuff, which just leads to unnecessary escalation. I don't know if its because its "only" women's league or just because its a lower level generally, but I would rather they call the hooks, slashes and crosschecks before it gets out of hand - women play at least as dirty as the men, believe me. Oh yeah, and like someone else said, bring your skating legs. My team isn't really all that fast, so if you're that far behind that play that you can't see my shot hit the strings, then maybe you've reffed one too many games that day.

[zebra_steve 11]

Bender,

You do realize that you would probably be reduced to a 3 on 3 game if the ref's called it to the letter of the rules? And know what, If the ref takes what I mentioned then the only calls that he leaves out there are the tiki-tack calls that affect nothing and only get everyone bitching at him.... It IS by the book.... and the manual.... EVERY official that I have seen that calls it to the letter of the book without using ANY game management sense ultimately gets accused of being a dick, or trying to control how the game is played. You probably like the "big hits" too... never mind that they are by definition boarding..... and that the use of your hands or arms to deliver or add force to a body check is also illegal by the definition of a legal body check..... In all seriousness, if the officials called the game to the letter of the rule then the games would look a whole lot more like the Womens' game.

And Rachel, I cannot tell you how many times I've given an "attitude adjustment" to an official that said,'it's only a girls game". Or "it's only (fill in the level)" because they were bored or felt that the games were "beneath them".

Yes, USAH wants less management - also known as "old school" - and more call it all. You still need to decide where that line is between a call and a non call and that is where the management is still needed. You cannot go wrong calling the game by the "big 4" but you sure can go wrong if you don't!

ibeck, I would LOVE it if I could get 90% of my refs to live by that standard with one caveat - you don't need to explain EVERY MINOR PENALTY.... and A lot will depend on how the explanation is asked for and received. If you're brief and polite you'll get an answer most of the time. Understand that you may not like the answer and it is not open for debate.

[chippa13 1844]

The rule I always tried to abide by when I was reffing men's league was: Would I be pissed if it was called on me and would I be pissed if it wasn't called against me?

[iceNsteel 0]

Ref's have to be allowed to determine what needs to be called and what doesn't, otherwise it's not hockey. Just becomes lawyer ball on ice. So to my mind a good beer league ref is a ref that can make those calls in a consistent and even handed fashion. Also, and this is a big one to me, a ref that knows how many games he/she can handle in a day and doesn't go over that just for the money. It's frustrating to see refs lagging behind and it's because they're on their fourth game of the day and they're just way too tired to be effective.

[empirehockey 1]

Consistency is the biggest thing, letting the players no what kind of game is going to be called goes a long way

[rachael7 1]

LOL @ 'lawyer ball on ice'

[Chadd 916]

I'd prefer to have a ref that calls things by the book, rather than going 'on feel'. A lot of the lower league refs seem to be really casual about stuff, which just leads to unnecessary escalation. I don't know if its because its "only" women's league or just because its a lower level generally, but I would rather they call the hooks, slashes and crosschecks before it gets out of hand - women play at least as dirty as the men, believe me. Oh yeah, and like someone else said, bring your skating legs. My team isn't really all that fast, so if you're that far behind that play that you can't see my shot hit the strings, then maybe you've reffed one too many games that day.

I actually find that the lower the level, the more strict you need to be. At a higher level guys will jab each other, get even and move on. Obviously the dangerous stuff will require penalties. At the lower levels it always seems like everyone needs to get in one more shot at the other guy or seem to forget that they actually started the scuffle. I'm a big believer in calling a fairly strict game, but if you have one guy chop another across the shins and he gets an elbow to the pads in response, there's no reason to send them both to the box if it ends there. Now if the second guy turns around and punches the first guy or it escalates from there, then they both need to go, not just the second guy.

[Agent1.8 1]

Any ref that doesn't try to be more "involved" in the game than he has to. I have seen waaayyy to many refs get too personal and really mess a game up.

Some examples:

Ref is barking back and forth with players, then decides every puck drop is going to be the equivalent of slamming down a royal flush.

Ref is actually asking players sarcastically if his call was "ok".

Ref has decided that any reply is an automatic misconduct.

[Chadd 916]

then decides every puck drop is going to be the equivalent of slamming down a royal flush.

If you know what you're doing you can put a puck down hard and make it stick.

[zebra_steve 11]

If you know what you're doing you can put a puck down hard and make it stick.

Yeah, but those of us that can do that usually are not officiating adult games....

[DarkStar50 679]

Most refs play the game, too. Therefore, there is the feeling that when they see and call a penalty, it is because they have either done it themselves(let's be honest) or have had it done to them. Then the chirping from the player on the penalty call just causes a ref to smile since the ref knows the deal. After all, it's only 2 minutes, not 20 to life.

[Chadd 916]

Yeah, but those of us that can do that usually are not officiating adult games....

I'm the odd one that prefers adult games to the kids attempting to kill each other on the ice that passes for hockey around here. At least when I toss an adult I don't have a couple hundred people throwing stuff on the ice.

[Hermans 9]

How about a ref that is there for more than just collecting his $$$$. One that has fun with the player but takes his job reasonably serious, acts professional but is not a surly dick, can manage the game and call what needs called (BUT NOT NECESSARILY EVERYTHING THAT COULD be called by the letter of the book) - Calls the big 4, obvious penalties, injury potential, change of possession or loss of scoring opportunity.

add "in position to make a good call on off-sides"

don't act like it's a PITA for you to be there just because it's the lowest level of adult league. I play in the next to lowest level in my league and we suck. we know it, we're not stupid. just because we're not AAA level players doesn't mean that we need the ref to act like we dragged him/her there in chains to officiate our game. we paid the same amount of money as the AAA guys so we deserve to at least not feel bad that you're out there with us.

not all of us were lucky enough to be born on skates.

Some ref's I've talked to prefer the lower leve games; they find it more relaxed and more fun to be a part of. The comment back was that the higher level games are just overly serious.

LOL @ 'lawyer ball on ice'

That would be a slow game... before you could drop the puck it would be a long time to go through motions, arguements, counter arguements, examination and cross-examinations, review of the evidence and final summations.

[chippa13 1844]

Yeah, but those of us that can do that usually are not officiating adult games....

My puck dropping abilities were always a point of pride for me. Getting that puck to slap down flat was a thing of beauty. One thing that I hate refs doing is keeping spare pucks in pockets. Nothing worse than getting a nice, warm puck introduced into a game each time one goes into the stands or when the ref just pulls one from his pocket instead of waiting for his partner to bring an iced puck to him.

[iceNsteel 0]

Or the refs that just grab three pucks from the "home" team without bothering to inspect them for damage. I don't expect NHL standards or anything, but the puck shouldn't have a gouge the size of my thumb out of the side either.