A referee’s perspective on a recent fight between minor hockey coaches

The president of the Windsor Essex County Referees Association feels the refs did the right thing

The president of the Windsor Essex County Referees Association feels the crew that worked last weekend’s game in Lakeshore where a dust-up between opposing coaches occurred, did the right thing.

“[It’s] not their job to break up a fight between grown men.” said Kyle Flood. “Our focus from the referee’s side is to keep the game fair and safe for the kids. What happens with the adults, it’s unfortunate but a little bit outside of our scope of influence.”

At least one young referee was caught in the middle of a fight following a U13 game this past weekend.

“I hope they continue to referee,” said Ross Sisco, supervisor of officials for the OUA. “Sometimes stuff like this, especially if you’re a really young referee who says I quit. This is too much. They’ll learn by it. This happened for a reason. You can learn from it. It’ll make you a better referee.”

The game took place at the Atlas Tube Recreation Centre in Lakeshore between the Belle River Canadiens and Riverside Rangers.

The Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) has suspended all coaches from both teams indefinitely.

Thursday night in a statement, Lakeshore Mayor Tracey Bailey shared her disappointment, “This type of behaviour is not what our community expects, especially for adults who serve as role models to our young athletes.” The statement read. “The ATRC (Atlas Tube Recreation Centre) hosts hundreds of games and practices that include thousands of players, coaches, officials, and volunteers. Many of these individuals dedicate countless hours to growing the sport of hockey and instilling the value of sportsmanship and perseverance in young athletes. This incident should not overshadow the good work that they do every day.”

Attendants from a couple of local arenas explained how they see coaches disrespect each other on many occasions, with one saying he was disrespected Thursday night by a coach following an expired rental and told to “shut up.”

There are signs in a couple of local arena warning arena goers their actions are being captured on video.

However, there are no visible signs at those arenas encouraging parents, players and coaches to respect the game and each other.

The City of Windsor will soon be introducing new signage.

“We will be posting those on our indoor facilities and our outdoor fields and it will outline what our expectations are from spectators,” said Michael Chantler, commissioner of community services. “I would argue that coaches and players are held to an even higher standard.”

The incident occurred in Lakeshore where the town has signs installed in locker rooms as a reminder to players and coaches to respect the game and have fun.

“Everyone can learn from this,” Sisco said. “But if it continues to happen then we have to look at ourselves and say why is this continually happening? Maybe they make a rule that says coaches shake hands before the games. Maybe the captains can shake hands.”