Secrets of H.S. Hockey

Here's what I have noticed in closely studying officiating the past 5 years (NOTE: I have been officiating high school hockey for the past 15 years, I am not talking about reffing the games -- Rather, I am talking about "studying" the games)...

1. high school officials in ALL sports are suspect with skills and abilities - hockey is no exception
2. the spectrum of officiating skills goes from "all-world referees" to "did he ever play the game?"
3. the philosophy of how to call a game at the high school level is non-existant (Answer quick! What's your philosophy on how the game should be called???)
4. A lot of referees try to develop themselves by doing as many high school games as possible. This is the "trial and error" method, and with some guys, it is more error than trial.
5. Communication is the greatest denominator for whether you are successful or not in the high school level.

Here's a few other things I feel about high school (NOTE: These are feelings, the above were concrete observations...):

1. high school hockey has some great games, with great players, and great skill
2. high school coaches are better than at any other point in time
3. Minnesotan's love high school hockey -- especially the State Tournament -- and many, many, many officials have the goal of getting to work the State Tournament.

How can we get you there???

1. Communication
2. Communication
and...
3. Communication

Today I'll talk about number 1 on the list...yep, you guessed it, communication.

55% of all communication is done through non-verbals.

So what's half the battle??

** being in position to make the call

** having a strong presence on the ice

** looking sharp, professional at all times

** working just as hard OR HARDER than the players

** having signals that are calm, cool, and confident

** establishing constant eye contact with the benches

55% of all communication is non-verbal...I recently supervised a high school game and was sitting next to some high school kids. When the officials went on the ice first, before the teams, at the start of the game, one of them made the comment, "Good thing the officials are in shape." (sarcasm was dripping all over the place). I guessed he was referring to one the officials, who was definitely overweight, AND to make matters worse, he didn't even work hard during the game. 55% of all communication is non-verbal.

Do you look like a championship game referee???