HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1988-02-02, Page 28-r••••••••:•-•
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HEADING TO HIS SEC01112 •7or hockey ieferee,
4 ••,,P7
Harvey Black heads out of his home to otj,iate anotherhooker "
game. For him, the arena avid be,consielered a second home. In
busy weeks, Black could spenatfpwatds of 425 bouts away from
home, making sure children play the great game of hockey fairly.
Minor. hocke
- black and white
•
but never. grey
Hockey officiating has good ,called and the fans react again, this
s ou threats
moments. directed at the refs in the heat f th
moments, bad moments and tense time withangryslouts and
. , o e
• moment, someone in the stands
scenario. Children grabs a sOda bottleand heaves it.
playing hockey at the local arena. A minor hockey referee's job is not
It's a tense seventh game in playoff an easy one. With only one pair of
finals and the score is tied in the _ eyes trying- to -take in -the actions of
third period. The referee trips, laplayers, some incidents are bound
falling to the ice. The crowd reacts to slip by. Yet they are bOften the
with laughter and jeers. brunt of harsh remarks from
A minute later, a player on the spectators and players, who believe
opposing team gets a breakaway that since referees are getting paid
pass at centre ice and streaks th
y peect. But referees
by several hom
toward the locals' net, hotly pursued are only hinnan, and very few of-
etow
fl
boys. Back Ociate hockey for money the
behind the play, another hometown pittance does not make up for lost
boy is tripped by an opposing player time with spouses and children.
while most eyes, including Mote of They generally do it out of love for
the officials, are at the opposite end hockey and a desire to see theame g
of the ice watching what could be a played fairly• .
game -deciding play. No penalty is Harvey Black picked up a striped
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VETERAN REFEREg - Harvey Black of Behyave drops I u , inAam the 150,
hockey games he averages every season. He has been refeeeeingMinothockey for 20 yearS most
parts of Southwestern Ontario
shirt and whistle 20 years ago to fill
in at the Belgrave arena due to .a
shortage of referees — and he's been,
reffing ever since: . - • -
Over the years he has reffed an
average of 150games a Season,
ranging from the joys Of watching
novice matches' to the serious Tier 2
Junior 'A' and. Senior 'A' contests.
Black has noticed some changes in
!heliport.
"In minor hockey, since the in-
troduction -�f /ace masks, sticks
have tome up higher and more high -
sticking penalties have been
called" says Black. "Don't get me
wrong. Masks are a good thing,
protecthig kids faces, but the sticks
have still come up."
As the sticksbave risen, however,
so has ,the level of finesse.
"The kids are 'more skillful at a
younger age, due to better doaching,
and the coaching skills have
developed through clinics," he
I added, -
A DYING MEED.•
when he filled in ‘:
continued retereeln
ring to 0601110 root
threaktiorn fans anid-
,
however, haven't changed.
guess youcould saythOY'res still
aggressive, but they pay ;to: get
and can Say:iiphittheYWant.- ,
"However, there are fewer refs
now because. of fans. Young 'OP
start up, get yelled at a lotthen hat;
atonedarid quit," .
IThe worst
situatiOn.a.Tecould be ifl 18
l.
a•ben011-00ating.. •
.. •
,•
!. .. .
''"The worst situation a ref could be
In, is a beaeltelearing brawl," -says
ri
d
at
neVer ,
!:aitatiViO. 111:0:14kri):*di.cooteg°11.,;:neoyrotii.:-can s
"I'll,te hien spit enchatt thrown 2-
aggiesSjoes te..iterbatabnae; Black
at on . do but rife. .
hasbeen ,,the Wed* Of. tiliit •
While , some fans iiiut their
But, genr elaptettatrtr to
hi
' '' diets' Of tiMes,-
they
0-eijfkkig; You just have to do. the
.$,;.:. .. ;•-=• kt. - -..' '.
• " ^
.• • • .
• •
between teams and 1
the stands and will reflect Ow
players on the ice. But refs
tensechwrist as niticli or worse
players We et' but
because the*
;..! Or d 'When he'
lilet., dominated the
tearns.poU 41
outcome'
sure the g
While many Veteranreferees have
learned to underatand how fans feet
and ignore voeifiroue spectators, a
youngster's claire to, become an
official may be dashed against the
rocks quite easily by a bad ex-
perience, warns Blackototing a drop
in the number of people willing to ref
t
leg
tr.tt 11°oftlte
-
rag tirne, but to make
yed fairlY."
a hockey game.
"The attitudes of players -and fans
are going -to have to change or there
wOnit be any more referees. Mott
rift don't do it for the money. Por
instance, I do it because I like the
game. It's satisfying to see good
hockey close-up and see the kids
develop, but -you have to be in-
terested in the sport to want to start
refereeing."
GOOD POINTS- 41
For Harvey Black, the good points
outweigh the bad. "For every bad
• genie you get, there are 10 good
ones;"
,--TheFe:- are 'Ones when refereeing,
funny.can be....doWnright "A gait
came off off the bench • when his team
already had enough-P*0.ra lin the
Ice, He realized atetittliesanie time
as 1 did that there were tee many •
players on the lee*. to he jumped over
the boards and disappeared into the
crowd." •
He says' there Was another En
stance,- when a - tea: was getting
drastically outplayed and couldn't
put the puck into the opposition's
net, -:"To prove to theinielvei they
could beat a---gOaltiendW'--liejtaitic -
"they turned around and scored' on
their own
He adniits he has been 106 tad
to- many -people he haireti
otherwise met, and has retted
playeit now in the *ationA lieekey
1 including Wayne Gre •
r y was in thiGoderich Young
divide lieeWee ittiiitiume4( sod
Stack ieniein tstinOvell.
he was a
UpetitOi getting toe -.oils.. a
"Black jokes."Por e wasitiOteed theii Atheist
his age, he
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juSt?get itenie;
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SAttAtil':
•
Bieck, has travelled as far as
• North Bay: and Sarnia to referee
..2, thePntalio
Hockey '41)6Litkiebttriat* it up
Mir years - :eke' because SimPly.
didn't like the distance factor.
"It took away time from my
family. 1 have two 'et* age 16 and -
13, who were taking.figiire.skating
and think I might have seen them
OA the jce Wee." .
Blaek nOW. *pits himself'to minor
hockey, which keeps him closer to
his Belgrave home, ranging as far as
Exeter; -Owen Sound, Wiarton,
Orangeville and most points in
between.
He still averages 150 games per
year. For iettance, in a recent Week,
Black refereed two pines Monday
night, two on Tuesday, one on
WechiesdaY, two-: on Thursday, one
on Friday and one on Sunday. That
works outto approximately 25 hours
away from home on top of his day -
job commitments.
Black enjoys_refereeing his circuit
and is proud hi the high quality of
officiating. "Iteffing in this area is
as good as any you'll find in Ontario.
Most referees around here are fairly
*let. SoMetimes we get criticized,
for not eithitig _enough penalties,
then we get ciltieited for calling too
many.
"We, as referees, have to be
consistent in the way we call a
game. But. W. depends on the
situation. Someone once said that in
ootball, a Penalty is a penalty, so
vvhy not, hi hockey. But in the
eventh game of playoffs with the
core tied, if you call a cheap
penalty you have to remember you
‘ant to getout of the arena alive. It
epends- the tithed on. In a
otential goal -storing situation or in
6 case of an injured player— sure.
ut you don't want to decide the
game on alininer incident.
'Thee's a lot of pressure in
effkig;' out there calling penalties. '
itd.a referee knows when he's
called a bad game just like a player
oft *hen he's Played a bad game.
"But if fans think it's an easy job. ,-
it's a free eountiy. They can get
s
th
13Akn
thelr ear& and whistles and come
out because AVe sure need more
refs."
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