skip navigation

First female-only USA Hockey Referee Clinic in Michigan a success

By By Stefan Kubus/MiHockey, 09/22/15, 6:15AM EDT

Share

The Michigan Amateur Hockey Association and USA Hockey held the first annual USA Hockey Referee Clinic strictly for women this past weekend.

Eighteen girls signed up for the clinic, held Saturday at Eddie Edgar Ice Arena in Livonia. With 44 registered female officials across the state of Michigan last year, MAHA’s new Referee-in-Chief Russ Eidenberger said adding 18 to the officiating pool is certainly a positive step forward.

“We’ve got 18 females, and this is a program that I want to grow for Michigan, and I’d love nothing more than to be the leader in the female officiating program for the country. We’re fortunate to have Melissa Szkola and Sara Strong around and Janine Martinez.”

Martinez was one of the three instructors on-hand to assist with the program. She said it was “about time to get the ball rolling” in producing more female officials in Michigan. She, Szkola and Strong took the women through a six-hour seminar, complete with off-ice and on-ice instruction, covering everything from penalty signals and dropping the puck to dealing with fights and unruly coaches.

“The turnout of the amount of young first-year officials gives me great hope for the future to grow female officials in Michigan,” Martinez said. “It was an honor to be a part of the first female only ref seminar.  I was proud to be asked by Russ to be on a staff with Melissa and Sara to run the seminar.”

Getting more female officials in the sport just makes perfect sense, especially given how many girls’ hockey games take place each year in Michigan.

Read Entire Article