U10 Mentorship

Welcome to the Atom Mentorship Program!

Referee Mentor Policy for 2020-2021 PVMHA Season

Purpose: The Referee Mentor will be an additional adult/experienced official on the ice for all games at the Atom age group. The Referee Mentor will not officiate the game, but will rather coach officials in between whistles, answer rule-based questions when necessary, and will have the power to eject unruly coaches, players, and spectators.

The Purpose of the Ref Coach:

· Mentor younger officials

· Observe coach behavior – towards players, parents and officials

· Train coaches how to speak to officials, when to speak to officials etc.

· Observe parent behavior

· Allow officials to focus on the game, positioning and improving (void of coach/parent pressure or confrontation)

The Merits of the Ref Coach:

· Eliminate the need to have an “observer” in the stands (this idea has been tossed around)

· Have a calming effect on parents and coaches (knowing that an adult’s or higher level referee’s tolerance for poor behavior is less than a new ref)

· The young officials and players are the biggest beneficiary. We are at a point where poor adult behavior needs to be addressed.

· Currently, game reporting is inconsistent; ref coach can help write up incidents and mentor officials on how to complete this process.

The Qualifications of the Ref Coach:

· Referee Mentor is to be an adult; 18 years of age, but at discretion of Referee-in-Chief, younger if capable. Associations will provide a list of Referee Mentors to be used during the season to the PVMHA Referee-in-Chief prior to an October 31^st deadline of each season.

· Referee Mentor is to be a registered official of any level or a registered Mentor who has taken the Official’s Mentor online course (as supplied by Hockey Manitoba). -link will be available from local RIC

· Referee Mentor must officiate 5 games as a regular game official per season to ensure regular officiating skills are maintained during the season. If Referee Mentor completes Mentor clinic only, the Referee Mentor will be unable to officiate games during the season.

· Referee Mentor will be a paid position. Each minor hockey association has a fee that will be paid to the Referee Mentor for each game. Normal mileage rates will apply if a Referee Mentor is to be transported to a different location.

The Rules of the Ref Coach:

· Referee Mentor wears supplied Hockey Manitoba pinney over top of regular official’s jersey. Will also carry a whistle, wear a helmet as per Hockey Manitoba and Hockey Canada requirements.

· Referee Mentor cannot call penalties, off-sides, icings, drop puck etc. Only jurisdiction is to coach officials between stoppages of play, consult on rules as necessary, and make any ejections necessary. Referee Mentor can not stop play to coach an on-ice game official, but can delay the game (with discretion) to teach the on-ice officials if necessary.

· Referee Mentors to submit coaching/supervision forms after each game to local/regional RIC. (GOALLINE)

· The Referee Mentor will sign the game sheet and convenors will verify a Referee Mentor was on the ice for each game. This applies for all games played in PVMHA — league, tournament, and exhibition games.

· Regardless of the level of the officials on the ice, a Referee Mentor is required for all games.

· All associations must have a Referee Mentor on the ice for all U10 games (2 level 3's is ALLOWED if one is a certified mentor, and no level 1 or 2's are available). Offenses will be bonds and cancellation of home games. Hockey Manitoba has had a recommendation to put older officials with younger officials for many years, and we still have problems on and off the ice.

The Positioning of the Referee Mentor:

· Referee Mentors will position themselves in the neutral zone at all times during play and will enter into either end zone, along the boards, when necessary.

· As the play transitions from an end zone into the neutral zone, the Referee Mentor will move to the neutral zone boards and allow play to pass. Once play has returned to either end zone, the Referee Mentor will again assume their position in the neutral zone.

· During play, Referee Mentors will use the same skating and maneuvering tactics as done by neutral zone officials in the 4-official system.

· During end zone face-offs, the Referee Mentor will line up in the neutral zone on the same side as the face-off. The Referee Mentor can also choose to lineup alongside the game official in the neutral zone if they wish to aid the game official.

· During neutral zone face-offs, the Referee Mentor will line up in the neutral zone beside the game official not dropping the puck.

· During center-ice face-offs, the Referee Mentor will line up on the opposite side of the game official not dropping the puck, unless the Referee Mentor wishes to aid or coach the official not dropping the puck, in which case the Referee Mentor can line up on the same side of the ice as the game official.

The Expectations of the Referee Mentor:

· Referee Mentors will be expected, first and foremost, to be a leader on the ice for all officials, players, coaches, and spectators. As such, conflict management is of the utmost importance.

· Ref Mentors are expected to coach all individuals on the ice. Mentors should work with coaches to improve communication, improve rule knowledge, and improve coach/referee relationship. Mentors should coach players on the ice in all aspects of the game, mainly communication, but also rule knowledge. Mentors can feel free to communicate with spectators, again coaching and helping interpret rules where applicable and where appropriate.

· Referee Mentors should coach on-ice officials to the best of their abilities, teaching positioning, signals, rule knowledge, game knowledge, conflict management, communication and other aspects of the game both during and before/after stoppages in play.

· Referee Mentors will be expected to help interpret rules, answer questions, and diffuse situations at their discretion.

· Referee Mentors will be expected to ensure proper sportsmanship is shown by coaches and spectators. If not shown, Mentors have the authority to remove any coach or spectator from the building at the Mentor’s discretion.

· At intermissions and following the game, Referee Mentors are to continue conversing and teaching the on-ice officials. It is recommended to go over a few things each official succeeded at during the game and a few things each official can work on going forward.

· Following the game, Referee Mentors are expected to submit an online evaluation through Goalline. Please click "Submit Referee Evaluation Form".