North Region March Newsletter
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Greetings from Herman Costa
Hello everyone:
With the season coming to an end, I would like to thank all officials for all their hard work and commitment to the North Region Officiating program. We registered over 2000 officials in the North Region this season so a big thank you to all the instructors, clinic contacts, RIC’s and Dean Ziegler for doing a great job. Holding clinics for this many officials takes a lot of work and time to get it all done. With the regular season over and with playoffs more than halfway done it is very important that we know the rules for the leagues that we are officiating in. Provincials will be starting soon so congratulations to all officials that are selected to work playoffs and provincials.
I would also like to congratulate all North Region officials that received international or national assignments as well as all officials invited to High Performance camps. Your commitment and dedication show with all the hard work, training and personal sacrifice you make to reach the top levels of officiating each season.
We held a general meeting on Nov. 27 but due to issues with securing a facility we were unable to hold a second general meeting. We have secured a facility for our Annual General Meeting and awards presentation on April 15th, 2024, at MLAC facility 12133-67 St, the meeting will start at 7PM. We hope all officials will be able to attend and support our award winners. The best way to keep up to date about what’s happening in the officiating program is to keep checking the website, we will post any new information here. North Region - Edmonton, Jasper, Ft McMurray, Wetaskiwin, Whitecourt & Areas | Hockey Alberta | Officials Committee
As this season draws to a close, I want to express my appreciation for your unwavering dedication and hard work to the North Region Executive Committee and all the RIC’s in the region. Your tireless efforts behind the scenes have been instrumental in ensuring the smooth functioning of our officiating program. Thank you for your invaluable contributions.
Herman Costa
North Region Coordinator
Clinics - Dean Ziegler
ATTENTION:
There will be referee clinics in August for all returning level 2 officials, no new officials. We will be having clinics each weekend and will add a more if the registration numbers dictate. The clinics will all be public, and the links will be available at a later date. These clinics will be open to anyone who wants to travel to the centers to attend the clinic. Each clinic will have a maximum of 30 officials per class, no exceptions.
REMEMBER:
If you are over the age of 19, you will be required to have a criminal record check before you will be allowed to sign up.
August 17 - Louis St. Laurent Catholic School, 11230 43 Ave NW, Edmonton, AB
Gary Greenough
August 17 - Louis St. Laurent Catholic School, 11230 43 Ave NW, Edmonton, AB
Gary Greenough
August 17 - M.E. LaZerte High School, 6804 144 Ave NW, Edmonton, AB
Alex Becigneul
August 18 – Johnny Bright School, 1331 Rutherford Rd SW, Edmonton, AB
Ron Oscroft
August 18 – Johnny Bright School, 1331 Rutherford Rd SW, Edmonton, AB
Ron Oscroft
August 18 - M.E. LaZerte High School, 6804 144 Ave NW, Edmonton, AB
Alex Becigneul
August 24 – St. Albert Catholic High School, 33 Malmo Ave, St. Albert. AB
Joe Becigneul
August 24 – St. Albert Catholic High School, 33 Malmo Ave, St. Albert, AB
Joe Becigneul
August 24 – Ardrossan Rec Center, 80 First Ave, Ardrossan, AB
Ray Keller, Kyle Edwards
August 25 – Grant Fuhr Arena, 9 Agrena Rd, Spruce Grove, AB
Darcy Carter
August 25 - TBA
Darcy Carter
August 25 - Ardrossan Rec Center, 80 First Ave, Ardrossan, AB
Ray Keller, Kyle Edwards
AGM and Year End Social
Monday April 15, 2024
7:00PM
MLAC Clubhouse - 12133 67 Street NW
The AGM will include 2024 Award Presentations and year end reports from Executive Members. Pizza and Beverages will be provided to those that attend with time to hang around and chat with fellow officials following the meeting. Remember to bring cash with you.
50/50 tickets are 1 for $2, 3 for $5, 10 for $10.
Federation - Duncan MacDougall
As this is the first newsletter since December, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the volunteer referees who participated in the 2024 edition of Quikcard Edmonton Minor Hockey Week. This was the 60th anniversary of the tournament that began in 1964.The top ten participating volunteer officials in Edmonton were Jacob Bettio (12), James Dundas (11), Quinn Goplin (11), Keith Gwynne (11), Kaden Bilsky (10), Burke Hughes (10), Isaac Tanouye (10), James Henderson (9), Brandon Webb (9), Jay Crocket (8), David Han (8), and Duncan MacDougall (8). There were 1,908 volunteer referee assignments with 1,314 of those in Edmonton.
Three officials from Sherwood Park, three officials from Beaumont and nine officials from St. Albert travelled into Edmonton to work games in the finals on January 20th and January 21st.
The QEMHW tournament committee has again provided 150 referee recognition jackets. Jacket recipients are selected by random draw. Each volunteer official gets one entry into the draw for each game that they officiate as a volunteer. All volunteer officials from the EFHL communities that hosted games were entered into the draw. Jackets should be available for distribution as early as late March but it could be as late as the end of May.
Native Provincials - Scott Mah
The Native 2024 Provincial Tournament is in the Edmonton area once again. There are games in all categories of hockey from U 11 to U 21. The tournament runs April 4 - 7 in arenas all over the city with most categories running out of the same arena all day. Most games run the 2 official system and are 1 hour to 1.5 hour time slots depending on the categories. For those who have officiated this tournament we look forward to hearing from you again and if not, this is a great tournament to get some great experience and skate one more time before summer break.
Please contact me if you have any questions about the tournament.
Scott Mah 780 966 7268
Native Provincial RIC
My assignors for this Tournament are listed. Please contact them if you would like to skate games and they will get back to you when the tournament schedule comes out. Please also be honest and don’t try and skate a category you have not done before.
Sanjeev Bhagrath [email protected] U21 and U18 hockey
Scott Mah [email protected] U18 hockey
Brandon Perri [email protected] U15 hockey
Brett Niawchuk [email protected] U13 hockey
Travis Stewart [email protected] U11 hockey
Golf - Jeff Howe
American Hockey League - Taylor Burzminski
It has been an exciting year for myself with just getting hired by the American Hockey League this past summer. I’ve been fortunate to skate all over North America this season and see lots of new city’s and rinks across the AHL. Working with different officials, players and coaches has been great for my development. We also get coaching from NHL/AHL Officiating Managers which has been very beneficial for myself. Overall I feel extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to officiate in the AHL and I’m hopeful that there is more seasons to come. Looking forward to sharing new tools and tricks of the trade at Hockey Alberta development camp this summer!
Arctic Winter Games - Chiara Knowlton
"I was honored to be selected to skate the Alberta Winter Games and skate the gold medal game. I was excited to skate with new and some familiar faces. I’ve also highly valued opportunities like these to not only compete for my region but getting to bond with my fellow female officials. I enjoyed learning from the supervisors on and off the ice. Experiences like these inspire me to elevate my game to the next level and beyond.
I wanted to thank both the North Region female program and the St. Albert Referees Association for giving me opportunities to learn, grow, achieve, and give back to the best officiating programs in the province."
-Chiara
All of the North Region officials in the tournament did an amazing job!
Female - Darby Readman and Shelley Knowlton
Janine Van der Wekken, Chiara Knowlton, Neve Palmer, Shelby Lazarowich and Alyssa Maier attended the Arctic Winter Games. We had a very strong showing with Chiara, Neve and Alyssa skating the gold medal game. Shelby and Janine skated the bronze.
We are sending a crew to the U18AAA provincials: Megan French, Chiara Knowlton, Neve Palmer, Lauren Fox. Hayley Butz will aid in supervising the tournament.
Hayley Butz was selected to skate the final round of USport Nationals. We also had Shelley Knowlton, Megan French and Kennedy Roblin skate second round.
The following officials have been selected to skate ACAC playoffs: Ashley Castelo, Michelle Gariepy, Cassidy Brand, Chiara Knowlton, Jessica Trombley, Reagan Houweling, Jodie Van Spronsen, Neve Palmer, and Lauren Fox.
We will again be hosting the Beaumont U15AA Showcase. The officials selected for the event are: Kimberlee Young, Harjap Khella, Billie Reimer, Mystery Shaw, Sienna Theoret, Taya Komant, Elizabeth Lyseng, Katrina Gelinas, and Kaitlyn Tremblay.
Congrats to Megan French for skating the gold medal game at the CSSHL Female U18 Prep Western Championships in Penticton!
3C’s Female Officials Clinic in Coronation, AB - Ashley Castelo
Carmen Sydor and I had the pleasure of instructing a special all girls officials clinic in Coronation, Alberta on Saturday, January 27 in honour of Female Hockey Day. This was an event in Central Alberta happening in conjunction with Hockey Alberta’s Female Hockey Day across the province on January 27.
We drove down to the 3C’s, which is a minor hockey association made up of Castor, Coronation, and Consort. With the ingenuity and initiative of Tara from the town of Castor, we had 22 awesome young ladies as clinic attendees, ranging in age from 13 to 17, who came from as far away as Killam and Daysland.
After a busy day in the classroom (Curling Club) and on the ice, we were fortunate to cap off the clinic with a group game outing to watch the local officials of a girls U13 hockey game. What better way to reinforce all the teachings!
Carmen is a master at getting young referees engaged in the material while sticking to a packed itinerary of activities. For example, I look forward to using the signal game “Head-To-Head” in future clinics. Thanks to Brett Kelly at Hockey Alberta for his work in making this happen, as well as Tara Jenkins from the town of Castor. The future of female hockey came calling, and Carmen and I were so excited to play a part in their officiating journeys.
-Ashley Castelo
