The New Referee - Lessons Learned
The New Referee - Lessons Learned
The reality of having money, usually met by earning money, and the need to be employed finally hit my youngest kid (teen). Being the second child, and having witnessed the many money/work speeches that his sister received, the “light” went on (thankfully it was a bright bulb) and he started to ask me about getting a job. I agreed that he could work but it had to fit his school, church, and hockey schedule.
He learned that his available working hours are restricted by the school day and playing on two ice hockey teams in the evenings and on weekends. It is not easy for a teen to find a job that provides any sort of flexibility as those jobs are extremely rare as many of his friends have discovered. So my son researched the possibilities for a teenager ("supersize" and "paper or plastic") and decided to enter the working world this past winter as an ice hockey referee. He researched and reviewed the requirements, attended the training classes, and completed his observed games in just over five months.
Becoming a referee has taught him many valuable lessons in both life and in his chosen sport.
Weekly Schedule – He has learned to balance his schedule. This is done by monitoring available games and only accepting assignments that do not pose any conflict with the rest of his commitments. Although he fully understands the principle that the more you work the more money you make, he also sees the importance of having a balanced life. He also has to arrange his schedule around his mother and me because we have to drive him back and forth. Time management finally makes sense.
Dealing with Adults – One of the best life lessons he is learning while refereeing is how to deal with adults. Just as the referees are yelled at and ridiculed during professional sports games, it is the same, if not worse, during youth games. And I know that this does not apply to just hockey. Having to explain calls and correct coaches rule misunderstanding is not an easy task for a teenager. But he is learning that the cool calm head usually prevails. I am still waiting for him to tell me that he kicked a parent out of an arena, but so far he told me that it hasn’t gotten that bad. This is one section I can really go off on, but I'll save that for another article.
The Rules of the Game – He thought he knew everything (as most kids do) about the rules of hockey until he had to start studying for the series of required tests. I, too, was amazed at how many “little” rules there are and was quite impressed with the way the USA Hockey rulebook is written. Following each rules section is a “casebook” section where the rules are discussed in a practical way. They use situations to show how the rule is applied.
Skating Technique – Refereeing really helps him work on his skating technique. He is able to concentrate on his stride and agility. Having to jump and turn to the side to avoid a puck or stick has proven beneficial. He also gets to practice both forward and backwards skating.
Endurance – Working two or three games in a row is tiring. The older the players, the harder and faster the skating. There is not much end to end action in a Mite house game, but when you are assigned a Bantam AA travel game, it is nonstop action. Refereeing and going to the gym take care of his off ice workouts every week.
The Almighty Paycheck – Of course there is the paycheck. He earns from $17 to $48 per game. Depending on if it is a House or Travel game, they last from 1 to 1.5 hours. Not a bad hourly rate and not bad for a 16 year old. He gets to keep half of what he earns for spending money (which he uses for new equipment and entertainment) and the other half is for church, charity, and his savings account. After all, he will be driving soon and will need to save for a car.
See also: Another Driver to Be
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5/16/2008 9:26 AM
pligg.com wrote:
The reality of having money, usually met by earning money, and the need to be employed finally hit my youngest kid (teen). Being the second child, and having witnessed the many money/work speeches that his sister received, the “light” went on (thankfully it was a bright bulb) and he started to ask me about getting a job. I agreed that he could work but it had to fit his school, church, and hockey schedule.
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