Category: Announcements

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As we enter the new 2015-16 registration season for officials, I want to give all of the membership an update as to what changes to expect this season.  The Officials Section has been busy since the 2015 Winter Meeting working on implementing the changes that were discussed and voted on by the District Referee’s-in-Chief to the registration, testing and online seminar programs.

First, there will be an informational video available BEFORE an official registers with USA Hockey that will outline the requirements and commitment that an individual will have to make in order to complete their registration.  Next, and a very important change, starting with this season, in order to register for a seminar an official will have to FIRST register as an official online nationally with USA Hockey in order to gain access to the online program to register for a seminar.  This change was due to a number of individuals who would never register as an official with USA Hockey and then ‘no show’ to the seminar that they registered for which frequently led to other registered officials being denied attendance at that seminar because the seating capacity had already been reached.  This change will hopefully provide more incentive for every individual who registers as an official and for a seminar to attend that seminar and complete their registration requirements.

The open book testing process has also been modified starting with the new season.  A Level 1 official will still have to answer the first 50 questions while Level 2, 3 & 4 officials will have to answer 100 questions.  However, the passing score for a Level 2 official has been modified to 80 from 85.  All other passing scores remain the same as last year.  Those passing scores are for a Level 1 official is 35 and for Level 3 & 4 – 90 for each.

While an official is actually taking the open book exam there will be immediate feedback after each submitted question is answered.  If the question was answered incorrectly, the rule reference for that missed question will be given with the appropriate rule book language.  After completing all of the required questions for the level applied for, a summary will be sent of all of the missed questions with their rule references.  If a passing score is obtained then the open book exam requirement will be complete.  If the result is a failing score then the official will also receive a summary of the missed questions with rule references.  After the 7 day waiting period has passed, the official will only have to retake those questions that were missed on their first open book exam.  The retake questions will be based on the same rule reference as the originally missed questions, but will cover a different aspect of the rule.  An example would be if an official missed 12 questions their retake exam would only contain 12 questions on the rule references that they originally missed.  Once all of the retake questions are answered, the number of correctly answered retake questions will be added to their original test score to hopefully obtain a passing grade at the level they applied for.   As a reminder, there is no third attempt to pass the open book exam.

During the Winter Meeting, the Officials Section spent a lot of time discussing the feedback that a lot of you submitted about the seminar program particularly regarding the online modules.  All of the feedback was taken seriously and an action plan was discussed and adopted.  Two ‘work groups’ were established to address the new classroom curriculum and to improve the online video modules.  Both ‘work groups’ were composed of grass roots members who could bring a grass roots perspective to their work.  Both groups have completed their work and their recommendations have been adopted.  The new shortened classroom curriculum have been distributed for application to this coming seminar season and the online modules are being re-engineered with improved formatting, better sequencing, animation replacing some video clips and reduction of music and voice-overs to allow the viewer to better focus on the presented material.

We’ve also evaluated the number of required modules for each level and based on the user analytics that the first years’ experience produced we have reduced the number of required modules in some cases.  Lastly as a reminder, once an official begins their first online module they will need to complete all of their online module training within a specified time period.  The online module completion time periods are for Level 1 registered officials – 60 days and for Levels 2, 3, & 4 – 45 days.  If all of the online required and elective modules are not completed within the specified time frame, the official will have to restart all of the module training from the beginning.  This requirement was waived during last year’s registration season due to the delayed rollout of the online module program.

This completion requirement was put in place by the District RIC’s to encourage all officials to complete their registration as early as possible and to add better continuity to the overall seminar education process.

As a reminder, to complete an official’s registration an applicant must:

  • Register online with USA Hockey

  • Register and attend a classroom seminar (reduced attendance times depending on registration level

  • Complete their required and elective online training modules within the required time frame

  • Pass their open exam at their registration level

  • Pass their closed book exam (no closed book at Level 1) for their registration level

  • Complete their online ‘Safe Sport’ training at the end of every 2 year cycle

 Work will continue on improving our educational programs and we will continue to actively listen to your constructive feedback.  Without your involvement and support as a community we cannot continue to move forward.  Acknowledging that improvements were needed was only one step in the process.  Implementing those changes in a way that meets the needs of our officiating community is the next step we are taking.  We can only be as good as you want us and yourself to be.

Have a great 2015-16 season and as always “skate hard and have fun” when you’re on the ice.

Sincerely,

Dave LaBuda
National Referee-in-Chief

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2015-16 Registration begins August 3, 2015.

To completely register with USA Hockey as an official you need to complete five steps each year:

1.    USA HOCKEY MEMBERSHIP REGISTRATION:

  • Note: This step must be completed before an official can complete Seminar Registration, the Open Book Exam, or Online Education Modules.
  • Go to USAHockey.com. At the homepage you will click on “Member Registration” under the OFFICIALS tab and register as an Ice Official. This is where you will provide us with your personal information for our database and pay your annual membership fee.
  • Once you are registered, you will receive a confirmation email within 24-hours and a copy of the USA Hockey Playing Rules & Casebook (new officials and Rule Change Seasons only) within a week along with some additional information to help you along with the registration process.
  • You will also receive an email giving you information (including your USAH Officiating Number) relating to completing your online “Open Book Exam”.

2.    SAFE-SPORT TRAINING (if 18+ years old):
All officials who are 18 years-of-age or older must complete the United States Olympic Committee SafeSport training program. This online based program trains coaches, officials, and key volunteers in detecting and preventing detrimental behavior (hazing, abuse, etc.) off the playing surface. Once completed, the training certification is good for two years before recertification is required. This training must be completed in addition to your USA Hockey Local Affiliate Background Checks.

3.    ONLINE EDUCATION MODULES
Once registered with USA Hockey, you will receive instructions regarding the online Officiating Education module program. Access to the Online Education System will be granted 24-hours after membership registration.

The Online Education modules are a mixture of required and elective-menu topics that teach fundamental skills of officiating using video examples, animation, and knowledge-based testing. You must complete your required hours of training to receive your card and crest.

Note: A list of all module categories will be listed at the main Courses page in the Online Education System. All officials must complete ALL six course categories (Pre-Required, Required, Positioning, Procedures, Penalty Criteria, & General) to complete training.

4.    OPEN BOOK EXAM
Go to the “Open Book Exam” page at the Officials section of USAHockey.com and follow the steps to begin your online exam. The exam is designed to allow you to go at your own pace. You may answer all questions at once, or answer a few questions every day until it is completed. Please review all answers before submitting it to the National Office. The exam will be accessible 24-hours after membership registration, and we strongly encourage you to wait until you receive your Rulebook and attend your seminar (see below) before attempting to take the test.

5.    CLASSROOM SEMINAR
New for 2015-16: All officials must complete membership registration before attempting to register for a classroom seminar. Please confirm seats are available prior to attempting membership registration (the registration fee is non-refundable).

All USA Hockey Officials must attend a USA Hockey Officiating Seminar annually. To find one in your area, go to the “Seminars” page at the Officials section of USAHockey.com. You will need a USAHockey.com website profile to access the seminar schedule. Once prompted, either sign-in to USAHockey.com or to create an Online Profile:

  1. Click the “Registration Status” link under the OFFICIALS tab.
  2. Select “Need to create a login profile?”, and follow the instructions and enter the required data-fields to set-up your profile.
  • Note: This process does not register you as a member with USA Hockey. You will pay no registration fee and your membership information will not be affected.
  • Note 2: In order for your USA Hockey.com profile to extract accurate information from the Officiating Program membership database, your online profile….
  1. First Name
  2. Last Name 
  3. Date-of-Birth

must match your Membership Registration information exactly. If you registered with USA Hockey as Michael, you must create your online profile with the exact same name (not Mike).

After your profile is created and saved, you will automatically be directed to the USAH Online Registration System. You are now ready to sign up for a seminar.

Most seminars are scheduled between late August and early November (the schedules begin to appear online starting in July), and any questions about the seminars should be directed to your USA Hockey District Staff (following the links at the main Directory under Officials Materials). We strongly recommend you make sure you can attend a seminar before you begin the registration process (the fee is non-refundable), and do not wait long to register since some seminars do fill up very quickly.

Once you complete these five steps, and the USA Hockey National Office receives your Registration Fee, Open Book Exam answers, Seminar Attendance confirmation, Online Education credit and SafeSport credit you will receive your USA Hockey Officiating Card and Sweater Crest and you are ready to work games.

Important Note: Please be sure to record contact information for your local USA Hockey Supervisor of Officials and Local Assignor while at your seminar. You will need to contact these representatives to receive game assignments once you receive your Card and Crest.

Answers to other questions can be found at the “Officials” page at www.usahockey.com.

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Congratulations to Katie and Erin!

 

The Southern Professional Hockey League’s Columbus Cottonmouths are no strangers when it comes to supporting women in hockey.  The club, owned by Ms. Wanda Amos, was the first SPHL team to have a woman on their roster when goaltender Shannon Szabados suited up last season.  On Friday, November 21, the team will host the first female officials in the SPHL for their Hockey and Heels/Girl Scout Night.

Referees Erin Blair and Katie Guay will take to the ice to officiate Friday (11/21/2014) night’s game between the Columbus Cottonmouths and the Fayetteville FireAntz. Both referees bring plenty of experience into the game.

Read More at ScoutingTheRefs.com

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  • Act in a professional and businesslike manner at all times and take your role seriously.
  • Strive to provide a safe and sportsmanlike environment in which players can properly display their hockey skills.
  • Know all playing rules, their interpretations and their proper application.
  • Remember that officials are teachers. Set a good example.
  • Make your calls with quiet confidence, never with arrogance.
  • Control games only to the extent that is necessary to provide a positive and safe experience for all participants.
  • Violence should never be tolerated.
  • Be fair and impartial at all times.
  • Answer all reasonable questions and requests.
  • Adopt a “zero tolerance” attitude toward verbal or physical abuse.
  • Never use foul or vulgar language when speaking with a player, coach or parent.
  • Use honesty and integrity when answering questions.
  • Admit your mistakes when you make them.
  • Never openly criticize a coach, player or other official.
  • Keep your emotions under control.
  • Use only USA Hockey–approved officiating techniques and policies.
  • Maintain your health through a physical conditioning program.
  • Dedicate yourself to personal improvement and maintenance of your officiating skills.
  • Respect your supervisor and his/her critique of your performance.

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Returning officials have 14 days left to complete all registration tasks. Please keep in mind that you are not eligible to officiate a USA Hockey contest after November 30th without your 14/15 Crest.

There are 5 Tasks that must be completed to be a completely registered official:

 

– Register with USA Hockey – USAHockeyRegistration.com
– Attend a Seminar
– Complete and pass your Open Book Test
– Complete SafeSport (if you’re over 18)
– Complete the Online Modules

If you have any questions or concerns, you should reach out to your district supervisor.

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These Instructions will help you learn how to submit a report. If you have any questions, please contact your district supervisor.

You are only required to submit a game report for Major Penalties, Game Misconducts and Match Penalties.

Be careful in submitting reports. Punctuation, spelling, completing all requested information, and “just the facts” count. These reports will go to the affiliate and will be attached to your Official number. You may get phone calls or e-mail correspondence from the affiliate. Be professional, courteous, respond to the request, and advise the board if you are ever contacted.

Order of Officials. The person submitting the report is always listed first on the incident report.

Searching for Officials. If you can’t find someone in the database, just put in their last name and search for them. Some of our officials are known by nicknames while their legal names are listed with USA Hockey. They will not show up if you are searching by their nickname.

Be sure to complete the Incident Location diagram correctly.

Select the Correct Penalty Assessed: Be sure to review your rule book and select the correct rule reference from the drop down menu.

When you get done with your report, there are 2 buttons at the bottom. One is SAVE (blue) and the other is SUBMIT REPORT (Green). You will hit the SAVE button this will save and close the report. This will take you back to your summary Incident Report screen. It is from this screen that you can review and send your report.

Once you are satisfied with your report and are ready to submit, go back to your report, click on the edit button and go to the bottom of your report and click the SUBMIT REPORT button.

****ALL GAME REPORTS SHOULD BE SUBMITTED WITHIN 24 HOURS OF THE GAME****

icon_pdf  Game Report Instructions

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On behalf of USA Hockey and the Officiating Program, we would like to thank you for your involvement in officiating and for your patience.  As you are aware, USA Hockey’s Officiating Program has undertaken a significant initiative with the development of an online seminar curriculum designed to further enhance the education of our member officials.  These types of projects are seldom completed without glitches and in our case, the primary glitch was the delay in the final video production of many of the modules.  We certainly apologize for the delay and appreciate your patience and understanding through this process.  We are confident that your patience will be rewarded with a quality product that enhances your officiating experience.

On the positive side, the required portion of the online seminar curriculum was launched on August 22nd and to date we have had over 4000 officials (including 1000 the first weekend) successfully log-in and complete these required modules.  We realize there are still many of you who will start the process shortly and are confident you will have the same level of success in navigating through the system.

The “Elective” portion of the online seminar curriculum will be launched at 2:00 PM (Eastern Time) on Friday, September 12th.  At that time, when you log-in to your specific curriculum, you will see a new listing of course material under four categories.  Within each category, you will be asked to complete a certain number of modules (depending on your level of registration) from a list of presentations that you choose because they are of most interest to you.  Once you have completed the required number of modules in a specific category, the menu bar will reflect that completion and you are free to move on to the next category.  When all four category requirements have been completed, you have successfully completed the online seminar curriculum and will be sent a confirmation email that you should hold onto as verification.  At the same time, information will be shared with the USA Hockey database (please allow 24 hours for the various websites to be able to communicate this information) and your profile will reflect completion of the online seminar requirement.

In addition, for those of you who have logged into the system and completed the required portion of the modules, your time restraint to complete the modules within a certain period will be waived as a result of the delay in making the elective portion available.  Everyone will have plenty of opportunity to complete the online curriculum in a reasonable time frame.

Once again, thank you for your continued commitment to USA Hockey and for your involvement in officiating

 

From: http://www.usahockey.com/officials

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To transfer from one seminar to another within your state of residence, please sign into your online USAHockey.com Profile and access your Referee Status page. The seminar you are currently registered for is listed at your Referee Status page with a “Request Transfer” link next to it. Click the transfer link and follow the steps to move to a different seminar.

To transfer to a seminar outside of your state. Please sign into your USAHockey.com Profile and access the Seminar Catalog to find your seminar listing. Contact the Coordinator (using the link) and ask to be removed from the seminar roster. Once removed you may re-register for a seminar.

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SafeSport Training Requirements for Officials for 2014-15 season

As you know, the USA Hockey SafeSport Program was implemented in full last season and included training of officials. The USA Hockey SafeSport Program is designed to prevent abuse and maximize the safety of our participants in the off-ice environment. The SafeSport Training is part of the program and is intended to heighten awareness of those that are in supervisory positions over youth participants; officials over 18 are included in that group of persons supervising youth participants. In the 2013-14 season, all officials over 18 were strongly encouraged to complete the SafeSport training, and the training was required for officials to be eligible to officiate in State, District and National Tournaments.

For the 2014-15 season, all officials over the age of 18 will be required to complete the SafeSport Training as a condition of completing their referee registration. This means that, like completion of your seminar and test requirements, you must complete the SafeSport Training prior to receiving your card and crest. The SafeSport Training is valid for 2 seasons. Thus if you took the training for 2013-14, you will not need to take the training again until the 2015-16 season (at which time a shorter “refresher” course will be available).

The SafeSport Training is available for you to take right now so you can get a head start on your certification requirements. The training is available at no cost. The training was produced by the United States Olympic Committee and is comprised of short video segments that take approximately 90 minutes to complete, however, not all training needs to be completed in one session. You will need your USA Hockey Referee Number, or if you are also registered as a player, coach or manager you can use your USA Hockey Member Number, which can be obtained at www.usahockeyregistration.com (under Member Options, click on ‘Request Duplicate Registration Confirmation’).

Information on how to register and access the SafeSport training can be found on our website at http://www.usahockey.com/page/show/909009-safesport-program-training-. Also, please be sure to select the USA Hockey SafeSport course as there are multiple courses available. The website also has links if you have questions about the training or on registering for the training.

We strongly encourage you to get a head start on your 2014-15 referee registration requirements, and complete the SafeSport Training this summer. Thank you for your support in helping make our sport as safe as possible!

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Starting with the upcoming season, USA Hockey is launching a new online curriculum in our Officiating Education Program. In addition to the standard registration requirements, including application, open and closed book testing and attendance at a USA Hockey Officiating Seminar, every official must complete the online material prior to receiving their card and crest for 2014-15.

The online curriculum is designed to enhance educational experience with accurate and consistent officiating information. The online modules will be broken down into three categories. The first two requirements will include general and level-specific presentations. The third category will have elective courses from a variety of topics such as positioning, procedures, penalty criteria and the mental game. These electives will be level-specific and allow you to hone your officiating skills in areas you select.

The length of each presentation will vary depending on content and focus. The majority of the presentations will fall in the 5- to 10-minute range, followed by a short quiz reviewing the content. The entire online curriculum will take 3-5 hours to complete, depending on the level of the official. The in-person seminar each official will be required to attend will be abbreviated and designed to supplement the material presented in the online curriculum.

Instructions on accessing the online seminar will be sent to you upon receiving your USA Hockey application. The curriculum will be accessed through your USAHockey.com profile and can be completed at your leisure, meaning you can log out and log back in to pick up where you left off. Some presentations are designed to be viewed before attending the seminar as a means to improve the overall seminar experience. These will be highlighted for your consideration.

Officials will find this new system to be beneficial and it will make your overall USA Hockey experience a more valuable one.  Let’s get the season off to a great start!

USAHockey.com