By Peter Watts /
ESSO minor hockey week is wrapping up this weekend all across the city.
Thousands of youngsters have been a part of the biggest minor hockey tournament in Canada. Quite a number of them have spent time in arenas both as players and as officials.
I was pleasantly surprised to learn that of the 800 officials working games over a 10-day period, about 500 of them are playing at higher levels in the tournament as well.
One such athlete is Brock Veres, a Grade 10 student at Ernest Manning High School. Veres toils on the blueline for the Trailswest team in Midget Division 6. But he’s also worked some games as a referee in Novice and as a linesman in Peewee hockey.
“I decided a couple of years ago that I wanted to try it,” he said. “It seemed like a neat part-time job and it was a way I could give back to the community.
“About the same time, my mother took on the task of scheduling the officials for all hockey games in the Trailswest community. And it’s worked out pretty well. I had to go through a two-day seminar on rules and positioning on the ice, and had to write a test at the end of the second day.
“Right now, I get one or two games a week. But I think it’s something I’d like to pursue in the future.”
His work has caught the eye of supervisor, Darryl Martindale, who’s in charge of all officiating for Hockey Calgary.
“I think it’s his attitude that has made him stand out as a young official,” Martindale said. “He really loves the game. And I think he’d tell you that being an official has helped him to be a better player as well.
“A lot of players ‘think’ they know the rules. Officials ‘have’ to know the rules, and they are more likely to understand why certain calls are made on the ice in their own games,”
Veres agrees.
“You see more of the ice as an official and it helps me read the play better as a player,” he said.
He has not encountered any major problems from the parents of players, something which has become a major part of Hockey Calgary’s focus this season through its ‘Respect’ program.
While he has not looked at the online questionnaire on that subject on Hockey Calgary’s web site, he’d be in agreement with the philosophy that forms the basis of the program.
Perhaps the fact he hasn’t been hassled for his official’s work, is evidence the program is having a positive effect.
Whatever, it’s good to see that a young participant in the game is interested in giving something back to the game.
Veres is already perceptive enough to know his future in hockey probably lies in officiating, rather than playing.
His Division 6 Midget team finished third in the seeding round of games prior to Christmas and will remain at that level through the second half of the schedule.
And he’ll continue to work one or two hockey games a week as an official (perhaps more if he can convince the scheduler he’s able to handle a bigger workload).
Not a bad way to spend the winter if you’re a 15-year-old. |