Lesson #13: Skater concerns and official reviews¶
by Stephen Lorimor / Axis of Stevil
Last updated: January 9, 2019
Skater (coach, etc.) concerns¶
If a skater has a fast question or concern between jams, help as time allows.
Answering skater questions is a low priority task. If you’re busy, say so.
Any question that requires more than a five word answer is probably too long.
Call an official timeout as concerns warrant (ie: track damage presenting a safety hazard)
Don’t lose control of the conversation. As soon as a skater asks you to rehash the last jam, suggest their team seek an official review to discuss the matter.
If the team uses a Team Timeout, they can “buy” the head referee’s time for a minute.
This is only to hear out their concern(s); it is not a free official review.
Official reviews¶
Each team receives one official review per period.
This is their time to spend as they wish. It warrants your full attention and respect.
If you cannot be of assistance during a review, you may be asked to return to your duties.
The subject of the review must be about the prior jam, the lineup for the prior jam, or a scoring issue from two jams prior updated on the scoreboard during the prior jam.
Official reviews must be requested by the Captain or Alternate
They must be wearing a visible “C” or “A”.
They may not be inside the penalty box or on their way to it.
Successfully violating this procedure warrants a delay of game penalty to the captain.
Outside pack referees should skate to the inside whenever a team requests an official review.
Officiating issues from the prior jam should be resolved prior to the beginning of the review.
A team has the option of exchanging their review for a 60-second “timeout”.
This may not be changed to a “normal” review once significant time has elapsed.
If a team’s first official review of a period results in a finding of officiating error, the team’s official review is “refunded” and may be used again. This may happen to each team once per half.
There is no standard practice for official reviews.
Every head referee has their own style. Some are quite different from others.
If you are new to working with a head referee, ask how they conduct official reviews
The head referee has control during an official review. Even if you believe you can solve an issue, do not interrupt the head referee or team captains.
Asking a clarifying question of the team captains is usually acceptable.
The head referee will try to establish a consensus regarding the review.
The head referee makes the final decision.
The head referee notifies the team captains as to the verdict.
It is good form to notify the announcers as to the nature and result of the review.
You will make bad calls that will be overturned.
Learn from your mistakes.
You will make good calls that will be overturned.
Sometimes the overturning is correct, sometimes it isn’t.
Remember that your perspective is but one view of an event. It is not the entire truth.
It is not appropriate for referees to publicly air grievances regarding official reviews.
Don’t let an overturned call affect your focus or professionalism.