WEEKEND EXTRA Friday IT Page Sports beat On referees Mention the word referee around any hockey rink and there Is bound be a conflagration of words from all corner representing different viewpoint During this season in Georgetown there have been mumblings from behind the from certain members of both the Geminls and the Raiders that a shift upwards by referees to the Ontario Hockey League from the Ontario Hockey Association has caused problems Gemini general manager Bob Webster says only one or two games this season have been well What is moat surprising to Webster who is a Minor Support Group hockey veteran is the Inconsistency in the calls SUSPENDED During a game against in the last week of November the tost but the referee penalties to Georgetown on a 1 ratio Webster said the referee was later suspended for a number of games for calling Georgetown on onesided penalties To prove that it just isnt sour grapes coming from a team who has lost more games than theyve won the Raiders also have their complaints The Raiders with a 1544 record are unhappy Weve real deterioration in our Raider president Bob Hooper says Two weeks ago in Port Elgin the Raiders won but the referee was from Port Elgin and he didnt call a good game Hooper says It showed poor Judgement In using a Port Elgin ref he says At a recent Intermediate A league meeting everyone was complaining about line referees Hooper says There were a few games this year the Raiders would have lost because of the ref creeing If they were not a stronger club be says YOUNGER Hooper feels there Is a direct relation between the loss of referees and linesman to the OHL from the Former Gemini general manager Bob Tost says the move meant younger linesmen and younger referees in the league To preface some remarks In defence of our referees here is a background to the spilt In August the offered the a final financial figure that wasnt accepted which led to the splitting of the two associations One of the things the wanted was more control of their They felt it was beneficial to their league to have more control says Herb Morell Referee and Director of Information The then went ahead and lined up their own referee staff They have a total staff of SI officials Light referees and IT linesmen decided to Join the from the ranks Herb Morell of the OHL feels however that the absence of eight referees creates a void but a very Those eight referees were interspersed between Windsor Kingston London Guelph Mlton and Kitchener Morell says TOP RANKED It is acknowledged that the eight referees who left were top ranked in their profession But Morell says come Junior playoff time especially In the finals the referees will help out with some Late in the season it Is also acknowledged the better referees arc scheduled to officiate the tighter races between the lop teams Wilsua executive director of the told The Herald those eight referees represented a drop in the bucket for their members of their officiating staff Wilson argues that there was an opening created for younger officials to advance into the and the development process was speeded up Armstrong Collision Centre Ltd Free Estimates All Work Is Guaranteed 8775163 I cant see It split affecting either Georgetown team Wilson says There are 14 supervisors who look after the 45S officials in their various assigned regions with Brampton being our region for the Gems and Raiders Officials under the Brampton supervisor are graded work cither Junior A Junior or Intermediate A Intermediate A is graded equal to College hockey or Junior A hockey with Junior rated a step down With the ratings of each official their schedule is assigned for refereeing assignments per week Wilson says General Manager of the Blades Murray Walker is chairman of the referee disciplinary committee for the OHA Walker believes there are a number of good officials and they all go out and try to do their lob to their best ability Walker prefers an official who Is low key and recognizes that an official who wants to steal the show an be detrimental STEREOTYPE We tend to stereotype officials and get on their backs he says A lot has to do with how the game develops he says chippy and the have control then that can cause problems be says While it seems the split had a minimal effect on our local teams there does still seem to be ample frustrations regarding our officiating The final word seems to be that the hockey seasons never change There will always be those defending and browbeating our officials for the job they do We can only hope theyre doing their best and realize that until officials can score goals good teams can still make their own breaks and win games on their own thru way HALTON THRUWAY MUFFLER RAD CENTRE Come In for a COOLING SYSTEM ANALYSIS RADIATOR REPAIRS RECORES GAS TANK REPAIRS T 347 Guelph St am600 Saturday pm 87701 The Hills Herald CLASSIFIED AUTOMOBILE GUIDE JOES GULF SERVICE LICENSED MECHANICS SPECIALIZING IN ELECTRONS SHAKES WHEEL 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