Family makes the call on ice

By Melissa Piche Times Contributor

When the McKinnon family went to the Strathmore Family Centre to lace up their skates last month, it was nothing new for Trevor and his son Nolan (15) and daughter Tavia (13).

The trio have refereed over 75 combined games this past season.

However, on March 11, it was different, as the trio refereed the female championship game between U11 Wheatland Wranglers and Camrose.

“It’s fun reffing with my two kids on the ice, working together as a family,” said Trevor, who was the lead official during the game, while his children were linesmen.

He has been a ref for about 15 years – on and off – and loves the sport. He took a few years off and recently got back into it because Tavia was showing an interest and was old enough to take the course. 

This was Tavia’s first year as an official and Nolan has been a ref for three years now. The siblings have followed in their father’s footsteps, and they enjoy getting paid for something they love to do.

“It was so much fun to watch. I have so much fun working with my kids on the ice,” said Trevor. “My goal this season was to have one game all together.” 

Mission accomplished.

Nolan refed roughly 50 games this season; he would ref 2-3 games each weekend, as well as play for his own team, the Strathmore Storm U18B team.

Tavia refed an impressive 25 games and played for the U15 Wheatland Wranglers. Trevor refed around five games and was an assistant coach for both of his children’s hockey teams.

“It took me about two hours,” said Tavia of the online portion of the course, which is mandatory for a first-year of referee. “And then an in-class portion, takes about eight hours – the same time as a school day, which has on-ice time and also learning time.” 

Nolan and Trevor are Level 2 refs, and had to do a course this year to maintain their refereeing status.

“It was an in-class course, which went over some new rules (and the course lasted) about eight hours,” said Nolan. “There were a lot of changes and I learned a lot.”

The McKinnon family would encourage anyone interested in becoming a referee to go out and do it. 

“It’s a fun job if you like hockey – I definitely recommend it,” said Tavia. “You get to skate around and basically watch a hockey game and choose the calls while getting paid.”

It’s a win-win situation.

“You’re making money while exercising and you’re supporting the game that you love by helping younger players develop the love for the game,” said Nolan. 

If you are interested in becoming a hockey referee, visit Hockey Alberta’s website. Clinics run beginning in August.