Insults, threats, harassment and even physical attacks. The teenagers and adults who referee our young athletes have to deal with an environment that would not be tolerated elsewhere in society. To the point where the community is experiencing a crisis of shortage of officials.
When I started officiating in hockey in my mid-thirties, little did I realize that I would have a target behind my back so often.
As soon as you jump on the ice, you become the scapegoat. We must be perfect, flawless, always on the lookout, even if we had a bad day at the office or a family dispute.
Coaches and players have the right to be wrong, because hockey, like many other disciplines, is a game of mistakes. But it is true for all participants. Of course I don’t like making the wrong decision. The feeling of guilt can haunt me for a long time.
“People need to change their behavior. The sport is in danger. I’m not exaggerating,” warns former National Hockey League referee Stéphane Auger.
Faced with a series of incidents in several sports with instructors, parents or athletes, several officials hung up their whistles or chose to do something else during the pandemic.
Alarming
When I was asked to do this file, I replied that I generally had no problem when I was refereeing. Well, it happens that there are dissatisfied people, but I don’t often yell at myself. It’s not in my nature.
However, talking with colleagues and seeing what was circulating on social networks, I realized that the situation was not rosy. That she was even alarming.
“It’s okay to yell nonsense at a 13-14 year old, because he’s a referee, because he has no room for error, says former NHL defenseman Bruno Gervais, who does not want his children to put on a striped cardigan. But if I go to a school and see a young person making a mistake in a dictation, I have the right to yell at him, insult him, intimidate him, wait for him after class for him. say that I’m going to kick his ass? Would that be okay?”
Our journalist Mylène Richard in discussion with linesman Félix-Antoine Hamel.
Photo Martin Alarie, Le Journal de Montreal
horror stories
Close to home, a study by the Pôle sports de HEC Montréal is underway to better equip hockey stakeholders and possibly all sports circles.
“We hear horror stories, parents who go after referees and hit them. There is endless violence, ”notes the director of the Sports Pole, Eric Brunelle.
“Whether it’s my story, that of a 14-year-old player who was checked by a coach at the Côte-de-Beaupré arena, that of the referees who are expected after a game, of the lady who hit on the head of a linesman in Trois-Rivières or the parents who are fighting in the stands in Plessisville, it does not pass and serious consequences are needed”, wishes William Dallaire, an 18-year-old official who has already been hit with a post by a parent during a football game.
80% of newcomers drop out
The sinews of war for several federations is to keep their officials. Few studies have been conducted in Canada, but several surveys in the United States are revealing. According to the National Association of Sports Officials, 80% of new umpires across all disciplines quit before entering their third season.
“For 2-3 years, there has been a vertiginous drop in the number of referees around the world, a decrease of 15 to 40% in certain sports, adds Professor Brunelle. It is between 50 and 90% of referees who have been victims of significant verbal abuse. For physical violence, it varies depending on the sport between 5 and 20%. It is enormous.”
And if there are no officials, there are no games. In fact, hockey games were postponed or canceled due to a lack of scratched jerseys last season.
Our journalist Mylène Richard in her referee’s uniform, in conversation with a coach.
Photo Martin Alarie, Le Journal de Montreal
Feeling of insecurity
The job of an umpire is perhaps misunderstood. It is not just about giving penalties and making face-offs. There is game management, emotions, communication and safety.
The mom in me is empathetic and I make it a point to comfort a crying 11-year-old goalie or warn a coach who uses inappropriate language.
Despite all my good intentions, I did not always feel safe. Thanks to the emergency doors that save me having to go through disgruntled parents to leave the arena.
This is without counting the racist, misogynistic or homophobic comments that I hear. And no, it’s not part of the game, as they say. It doesn’t do any good. It’s not constructive.
The parents remain the most difficult aspect to control. Once, a dad was expelled because he insulted me by yelling that I had to go back to my cauldrons. They explained to me that he was not like that normally, that the emotion had invaded him because the team of his 12 year old son lost for the first time this season.
At my age, I can handle that, but I wouldn’t have been able to at 15.