With more than 40 years of experience as an official, Rick Pratt has seen the ebbs and flows when it comes to the officiating ranks. And in his current role as the referee-in-chief for New York’s Central District, he has seen the national trend of younger officials leaving the game hit close to home. 

So, he knows it takes a team effort to recruit and retain qualified officials in the game. That’s why Pratt has joined other RICs around the state in coming up with creative methods of bringing the next generation of officials into the game. 

His most recent effort was to host a Try Officiating for Free session as part of an Age Based Recreational Skills Clinics at the Three Rivers Athletic Complex in Baldwinsville. The result was an impressive haul of 15 prospective new officials heading into this season.

“Some people get into officiating and find that it’s not for them, and that’s OK. But you won’t know until you try it,” Pratt said. “I give everyone who came out here a big pat on the back for coming out for at least giving it a try. To have 15 say they want to come back was remarkable. I was very surprised.”

When NYSAHA Secretary Linda Groff announced the dates for the four clinics around the state, Pratt worked with North Section president Kirk Avery to get the word out on a Try Officiating for Free event. A total of 21 people expressed interest and 17 showed up for the full-day clinic.

Interested officials ranged in age and experience, with several current and former players among those answering the call. Several attendees had tried officiating in the past but left the ranks for a variety of reasons, including run-ins with coaches and parents.

Pratt and his fellow veteran officials made it a point to get to know each of those in attendance and to personally address all of their questions and concerns with both honesty and humor.

Once on the ice prospective officials were split into small groups where they worked on the basics of officiating, from how to drop the puck and blow the whistle to proper skating techniques and positioning to make the right call.

After participating in several drills, officials were assigned to work half-ice and full-ice scrimmages, where they were shadowed by experienced mentors who provided on the spot instruction.

Off the ice, officials learned about USA Hockey’s certification process and how to get games from local schedulers. There was plenty of time for questions and some good spirited conversations about what it takes to succeed as an official in today’s game.

“We talked about some of the good things they did, and we talked about some of the things that could help them. At the end of the day, it’s all big smiles and a lot of laughs,” Pratt said. 

“Not only did they receive good instruction, but we also tried to make it fun for them, make them laugh and enjoy themselves as they learned a few things about officiating. If we can start them out right and make sure they have fun, that’s great.”

Pratt shared the results of the clinic with RICs from the other three sections, who will look to add this practice into their own recruitment efforts. It’s all part of a national initiative to expand the officiating ranks by making the game more accessible and more welcoming to the next generation of officials.

“Recruitment is a big part of the game on the officiating end because if you don’t have the officials, you’re not going to have a game,” Pratt said. 

“When it comes to recruiting, we do everything we can to put programs like this out there to create incentives for people to try officiating. People need to understand that associations have to do the same. Recruiting isn’t just our responsibility, it’s up to everybody.”