Lesson #2: Whistles

by Stephen Lorimor / Axis of Stevil

Watch this lesson on YouTube

Last updated: May 9, 2018

Whistles

  • (standard) Fox 40 Classic

    • On lanyard

    • On finger ring

  • Fox makes several other acceptable models

    • Classic Mini is a smaller version of the Classic. Same tone, but 6 dB quieter.

    • Eclipse is the same sound and volume as Classic, but a sleeker design.

  • Fox 40 makes several other whistles (Pearl, Sonik, etc.)

    • Avoid non-standard whistles unless specifically instructed to use them.

    • Skaters are trained to respond to the specific tone of the Fox 40 Classic, and may be confused by non-standard whistles.

  • Covid tip: Fox now makes a whistle-mask for officials. (If you ever try one out, write to me and tell me how well it works.)

Signals

  • One short blast → Jam start

  • Two short, rapid blasts → Lead jammer

  • One long blast → Penalty

  • Four rapid, short blasts (one set) → Beginning of a timeout (team or official)

  • Four rapid, short blasts (three sets) → Jam end

    • Continue sets until skaters cease playing.

  • Rolling whistle → End of timeout or period

Don’t forget

  • When being called off, other referees should attempt to exactly match the timing of the tweets.

  • Whistles are not used when issuing penalties between jams.

  • Whistles are not used with warnings.

  • A jam continues until the fourth tweet of the first set of jam call-off whistles.

Bonus tip

  • If you have pockets on your game uniform, carry an extra whistle or two in case an official’s whistle breaks during a game.