A talented former colleague shared recently via social media.
It offers an important message to coaches and parents involved in minor hockey - stop yelling at young game officials.
Dave Kadun, a senior official in Alberta, offered his impassioned thoughts.
"This needs to be said," Kadu wrote as a preamble to his voiced message. "Young officials are skating off the ice in tears. They鈥檙e being yelled at, disrespected, and broken down鈥攂y you. These kids are giving their time and effort to officiate the game we all love, but the way they鈥檙e treated is driving them away. Without officials, there鈥檚 no game. Coaches, parents鈥攚e need to do better. The future of hockey depends on us showing respect, patience, and encouragement. Let鈥檚 teach our kids the right way to handle adversity, both on and off the ice. It鈥檚 time to be the example our game鈥攁nd our kids鈥攄eserve."
He's 100 per cent correct. Problem is, the message could have been from 2025 or 1995. People refuse to learn.
"Hockey coaches and hockey parents, you need to do better," said Kadun adding in all his years as an official this has been the worst for coaches and parents for yelling at officials, especially the young ones. "Think of what you鈥檙e doing when you're yelling at a 12- or 13-year-old kid because they missed a small penalty, an icing, an offside.
"They鈥檙e human, they鈥檙e learning, they're growing.They鈥檙e never going to get better without making mistakes. When you鈥檙e dropping the f-bomb at a teenager or calling them an a-hole or an effing joke, think of what you鈥檙e doing to them inside. You鈥檙e killing them inside. They鈥檙e coming into the dressing room... they鈥檙e crying."
Kadun notes it's already tough to get young officials into the sport and the abuse makes it even harder.
I saw Kadun's message and was immediately transported back to 2001 when I was working at the old Nanaimo Daily News. The Nanaimo Minor Hockey Association referee-in-chief was drawing plenty of attention - in two countries - for spearheading a boycott in which local refs refused to work atom house league contests.
The work stoppage was in protest to an incident in which a young ref was confronted in the parking lot at Frank Crane Arena - as well as a lack of prompt response from the B.C. Amateur Hockey Association in dealing with the matter. Another incident saw a young official locked in a dressing room.
''It's important we continue to put this out. . . the message that this type of behaviour is unacceptable,'' said the chief official.
And he was also 100 per cent correct - 24 years ago.
I said this at the time: "What it all boils down to is plenty of ''grownups'' who are so busy trying to blame each other for the problems that they fail to see that the collective infighting is a massive part of the problem. There's still plenty of work to do."
Here we are a quarter-century later and apparently that work remains to be done.
The same type of clowns are cursing at the refs or umpires at games involving 10-year-old children. Ref abuse is still a problem in B.C. And Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and pretty much anywhere you have sporting events.There remains a culture of disrespect for referees, umpires and other game officials.
I typed 'referee' in the search function on the website and was greeted with: 'Altercation with referee, 15, causes concern for bullying in B.C. minor hockey'; 'Referee, coach assaulted at kids鈥� hockey tournament in Lethbridge'; 'Minor soccer referees in Quebec to wear body cameras to prevent abuse' and others.
Again, the saddest part of these incidents is it tends to paint everyone with the same brush. Most parents and coaches are terrific, involved for all the right reasons and doing wonderful things for their children. But the yahoos remain and they're not just hurting their own youngsters but all the others as well 鈥� and the sports themselves.
Do better.
PQB News/VI Free Daily editor can be reached by phone at 250-905-0019, or by email at philip.wolf@blackpress.ca.
