Sylvania Metro Amateur Hockey League

How do I file a complaint on an official?

Complaints on officials must be submitted in writing to the Local Supervisor of Officials or District Referee-in-Chief for your area.  These volunteers are in the best position to investigate any concerns and also have the authority to take whatever action is deemed appropriate.  If unsure as to who these volunteers are in your area, please refer to the Officiating Program Directory found on USAHockey.com.

What are the registration requirements for the various levels of officiating?

Is there a minimum age to start officiating?

USA Hockey has no minimum or maximum ages for officials.  It is highly recommended that, regardless of level attained, officials not work games of their own age classification or higher.  Generally, officials can successfully officiate as young as age 10.  However, some local areas do have minimum age requirements due to their State’s specific Child Labor Laws.  In this instance, you will need to contact the Local Supervisor of Officials for specific information.

How do I get an official’s application?

USA Hockey offers online registration and open book testing for our officials. Simply log ontowww.USAHockey.com and look for the “Register Online” icon. 

Renewal officials (those registered the prior season) will be sent a reminder postcard for the current season in early August.  New officials can also register online.

What if I want to use a paper application?

The easiest way is to submit an online application.  But, if you do not have internet access, you can obtain a blank application at the seminar you attend or by contacting your Local Supervisor of Officials.  When completing a blank application, be sure to include your USA Hockey member number so the application can easily be matched up to your previous registration record.

How do I find out who is my Local Supervisor of Officials?

The Officiating Program Personnel directory is listed on the USA Hockey website at the “Directory” button appearing on the Officials page.  Simply find the local supervisor, that is listed, who is closest to your home area.

Is there a fee involved with the official’s application?

The official’s registration fee is collected with the application and must be paid when the application is submitted in order for the application to be processed.  The revenue generated from the registration fees is used to operate the officiating program.  Volunteer expenses, seminar expenses, educational materials, printing, postage and all other expenses incurred to operate the program are covered by the registration fee.

In addition, some districts or affiliates also charge a nominal registration fee in order to fund special programs and local operating expenses.  These fees may be collected as part of the USA Hockey application process and then are distributed to the district or affiliate level.

How do I get my open book exam?

Information on the open book exam, and current playing rules book, will be sent to you from the national office upon receipt of your application and fee.  For those who register online, an email will be sent with information on how to complete the open book exam online.

How long do I have to take the open book exam?

The open book exam is designed to be completed at your leisure.  However, you should be reminded that new officials will not be eligible to work games until they have completed the exam and attended a seminar.  Returning officials’ registration expires on November 30th, so they will also need to complete the exam in a timely manner in order to continue to work games.  Generally, USA Hockey will accept open book exams up until the middle of May.

Where do I find out about the seminars in my area?

Since seminar attendance is one of the registration requirements, USA Hockey conducts several hundred seminars throughout the country each season.  You can obtain seminar information by clicking the “Seminar” button on the officials page of USAHockey.com or on a district or affiliate website.

Oftentimes, a local area may add a late scheduled seminar in order to accommodate officials who did not attend a pre-scheduled seminar.  These seminars may not appear on the schedule or be posted on the website.  In this instance, you may wish to contact your Local Supervisor of Officials to inquire about a late scheduled seminar in your area.

How do I get credit for attending the seminar?

Each official who attends a USA Hockey seminar must check-in and register at the seminar they attend.   Seminar attendance information is then sent to the national office where your attendance is matched up with your registration record.

It is imperative that each official check-in at the seminar and they may be required to sign an attendance form.  Officials who do not go through the required seminar check-in process may not be given credit for seminar attendance.

Where do I take the closed book exam?

The closed book exams required for level 2, 3 and 4 applicants will only be administered at the seminar you attend.  The exams will be collected at the seminar and forwarded to the national office for grading with the seminar attendance information.

What if I choose not to take a closed book exam?

Provided you have completed and passed the open book exam and have attended a seminar, you will be issued a card and crest for level 1 as you have met the requirements to be a level 1 official.

When will I receive my card and crest?

Once the national office has received your open book exam, closed book exam (for level 2, 3 and 4 officials) and verification of your seminar attendance and you have passed all of the exams, your card and crest will be issued to you and you will be eligible to work games.

What do I have to do to make sure I am receiving emails such as registration conformation and exam results?

All of the emails sent from USA Hockey come from a server with the address of @usahockey.org.  You will basically need to enter in a valid email address such asofficiatingexam@usahockey.org into your email address list and that will let your spam filters know it is a valid address.

Naturally, keeping your contact information current and accurate in the USA Hockey database is also critical to successful communication.

There is a lot of stuff going to and from the national office. How long does it take to receive materials?

Generally, we are simply at the mercy of the US Postal Service.  Once the material is received here in the office, it will be processed and the appropriate materials will be sent out within 2 business days.  The other thing that the national office has little control over is the timeliness of receiving seminar information from our volunteer seminar instructors. They are encouraged to submit the seminar materials within a day of the seminar, but sometimes it takes a little longer to reach the national office.

You should also be aware that your closed book exam results will not be forwarded until we have received verification of your seminar attendance and are issuing your card and crest.  Your open book exam results, provided it is submitted online, will be sent via email within a few minutes of submitting your answers.

Of course, submitting your application and open book exam online should speed up this process as we are not counting on the Post Office for obtaining some of the necessary information.

Is there a way I can check my registration status?

Yes!  You can check your registration status, including exam results, 24 hours a day and seven days a week by calling USA Hockey and following the menu prompts.  Call 719-576-8724 and go into the registration status menu.  Follow the voice activated prompts and all aspects of your registration status will be available through this service and will allow you to track your registration status throughout the process.

Now that I have my card and crest and am eligible to officiate, how do I get games?

First off, you should be aware that simply registering with USA Hockey is not a guarantee of game assignments.  Although we highly encourage all of our local supervisors and local assignors to involve every eligible official in the assignment process, it is still up to the individual official to solicit game assignments.

Contact your local supervisor of officials or assignor and let them know you are now eligible to work games and when you are available.  If possible, identify a more experienced official in your local area to serve as a mentor and who can also help you get games.  Once you get that first assignment, go out and give 100% to do your best and the rest will take care of itself.

Does USA Hockey have any assignment guidelines – meaning, what levels of games is each respective level of official eligible to work?

Yes, USA Hockey has established some assignment guidelines.  But they are just that – guidelines.  There may always be some unusual circumstances or emergency situations where it may be impossible to follow the specific guidelines.  In this instance, the game(s) should be played as long as there are capable and completely registered officials available to work.

USA Hockey strongly recommends that our younger officials only work age classifications that are at least one age group younger than what they would currently be playing at.  The remainder of the assignment guidelines are as follows:

MINIMUM REFEREE LEVEL REQUIREMENTS FOR GAMES

It is the policy of USA Hockey to only assign qualified officials to all levels of competition.  The USA Hockey Officiating Program strongly recommends the following guidelines be adhered to when scheduling all USA Hockey sanctioned games.

NOTE

To be eligible to officiate in any State, Regional or National Championships, an official must be completely registered on or before December 31 of the current season.  If possible, only level 4 officials will be assigned to work National Championships.

As a USA Hockey registered official, am I eligible to work non-sanctioned games?

We take pride in the USA Hockey Officiating Program.  In fact, we are the only officiating organization that exists in North America that offers extensive, formalized training and education to its members.  Whenever you officiate a non-sanctioned game, the players of that league are directly benefiting from the USA Hockey Officiating Program, at no cost to them.  This is highly unfair to the 40,000+ teams who do register with USA Hockey.

Although we highly encourage officials to work only USA Hockey sanctioned games, there remains a number of officials who work non-sanctioned games, particularly at the Adult age classifications.  Any questions regarding the registration of a team with USA Hockey should be addressed to your District or Affiliate Registrar.  If you officiate in a game that is not sanctioned by USA Hockey (NCAA, National Federation of High Schools, and Minor Professional leagues are affiliate members of USA Hockey and may provide separate insurance coverage for their officials), please be aware that:

1.  You are not covered under the USA Hockey insurance plan, while officiating these games.

2.  You are prohibited from wearing the USA Hockey officials crest.

3.  You may face repercussions from the USA Hockey Affiliate Association. 

Please help us in our endeavors to encourage these teams into becoming registered with USA Hockey by not officiating non-sanctioned games.  Thank you.

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact your Local Supervisor of Officials.  Thank you for your interest in hockey and happy officiating!