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No Ref No Game

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/11/2020 (1869 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Sport officials, like athletes and coaches, are people who devote themselves to sport to allow people like you and I to jump up from our seats, cheer, and feel the rush of adrenaline that comes from watching a good competition.

But when incidents of maltreatment geared toward officials happen, whether it’s direct verbal abuse from a frustrated participant or harassment from spectators from the sidelines, it can be detrimental to the entire sport system.

Why? Because when officials are not treated with respect, it becomes an unpleasant experience for them – and when there is no ref, there is no game.

#NoRefNoGame

Sport Manitoba and True Sport’s #NoRefNoGame campaign brings awareness to the declining number of sport officials due to increasing incidents of maltreatment and calls upon Manitobans to respect their officials in sport.

Nieva Embuldeniya, a Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame Honoured Member who is well known for her contributions as an official in boxing at home and around the world, was one of the first female boxing officials in the province.

“It’s a long procedure from 1986 as a provincial judge to 2003 as an AIBA international judge,” said Embuldeniya.

And while she believes inclusion of females in sport and officiating has grown a lot in recent years, the retired official faced many challenges early on in her career.

“When I started, the female officials were very few. In other countries, they frowned upon women being involved in officiating, because, you know, it was a male-dominated sport at the time when I got involved.”

For Winnipeg native and NHL linesman Ryan Galloway, becoming an official was a way for him to stay active in the game after he no longer played.

“When I was 12 and we were able to start actually getting certified with Hockey Manitoba, I took the course and it’s been something I’ve done ever since,” said  Galloway.

He said the job of an official is ultimately to make the game fair and safe, but errors do happen.

“We strive to be the best we can and to not make mistakes and not have an impact on the game, but the reality is, it’s a human game,” said Galloway.

Recruitment, Retention, Mentorship

“The biggest thing that any sport can do is have a good mentorship program for their officials, especially those starting out,” said Galloway. “In any sport, we need that mentorship, we need senior officials coming back and remembering what it was like to be in that spot where you were out there as the young one with little experience and trying to learn the ropes as you go.”

Nieva believes officials staying engaged in seminars and learning opportunities is an important part of that.

“It is always an ongoing process of learning. You don’t just say, ‘OK I’m an expert, I know what I’m doing.’ It’s not that,” said Embuldeniya.

No More Us vs Them

Why is starting a dialogue about the proper treatment of officials so important?

“Too many times it’s seen as an us vs them viewpoint. It’s always the coaches and the players are doing this, or the referees are doing this, or the parents are doing this,” said Galloway.

Nieva said officials are not there to take sides, whether it’s at home or on the Olympic stage.

“I have to be impartial and fair. And I never represented any country – I am there as a neutral person. And this is what we have to instill in the referees and judges,” said Embuldeniya.

With approximately 8,500 officials certified in Manitoba, #NoRefNoGame aims to support them and their role in making sport possible by connecting the sport community in a positive way.

“I think it’s so important to bridge that gap and to realize that we’re all here for the same reason, we’re all here for the love of whatever sport it is, and we all need to work together to make that sport an enjoyable endeavour for everybody,” said Galloway.