Is there a minimum age to start officiating?
USA Hockey has no minimum or maximum ages for officials. It is highly recommended that officials not work games of their own age classification or higher, regardless of level attained. Generally, officials can successfully officiate as young as age ten years-old. However, some local areas do have minimum age requirements due to their State’s specific Child Labor Laws. In this instance, you will need to contact the Local Supervisor of Officials for location-specific information.
What are the registration requirements for the various levels of officiating?
A complete list of registration requirements for each level is listed at the Registration Rules page under the OFFICIALS tab at USAHockey.com.
Can I attend a seminar before registering as an official?
No, all officials must complete Membership Registration prior to completing Seminar Registration. Furthermore, since the registration fee is non-refundable it is strongly encouraged that an official confirms that he can attend a seminar before registering.
Is there a fee involved with the official’s application?
The official’s registration fee is collected with the application and must be paid when the application is submitted in order for the application to be processed. All revenue generated from the registration fees is used to cover the day-to-day operations the Officiating Program. These include volunteer expenses, seminar expenses, educational materials, printing, postage, and all other expenses incurred to operate the program.
In addition, some districts or affiliates also charge a nominal Affiliate Fee in order to fund special programs and local operating expenses. These fees may be collected as part of the USA Hockey application process and then are distributed to the district or affiliate level.
USA Hockey Officiating Program Registration Fees
LEVEL 1 - $55.00
LEVEL 2 - $110.00
LEVEL 3 - $110.00
LEVEL 4 - $110.00
LEVEL 0 (non-skating) - $45.00
How do I find out if my Local Affiliate charges an annual registration fee?
Not all Local Affiliates (your local governing body) charge a fee each year; however this question can be answered by your USA Hockey Local Supervisor of Officials or District Referee-in-Chief.
It looks as if I'm paying two registration fees to be an official. How do the fees break down?
USA Hockey’s officiating registration fee is considered a separate entity from that of a player and/or coach. Whereas an adult player can also coach under the same registration fee, the official’s fee is separate and must be paid by each official. In the case of the adult player, USA Hockey utilizes the joint fee for them to coach as a means to encourage these adult players to volunteer their time as a youth hockey coach. This is not done on the officiating side for a variety of reasons.
Maintaining a separate fee actually assists us in being able to keep our costs down. USA Hockey purchases insurance coverage for each member type, recognizing that the insurance risk for a player/coach is going to be different than it is for an official. By doing so, our insurance costs are actually held to a minimum. Instead of purchasing a blanket insurance program that covers all inherent risks for all member types at a greater cost to all members, we can be more specific and actually purchase coverage that accounts for the specific risk of each member type.
In addition, the Officiating Education Program is a distinct program that has several benefits included as part of the registration process. These include the Rule Book/Case Book, Officiating Manuals, the majority of the expenses for the officiating seminar, and administrative costs that are specific to the conducting of our direct registration program, including testing and distribution of materials.
In contrast, there is an additional fee charged by the Coaching Education Program for clinic attendance and many of the coaching manuals would also need to be purchased. Finally, in many cases, the officials are perceived to be the only people involved who are getting paid, so the USA Hockey Board of Directors feel strongly that the cost of our Education program should be funded strictly by our officiating membership, hence the independent registration fee and program.
How do I find out who is my Local Supervisor of Officials?
The Officiating Program Directory is located at USAHockey.com using the Officiating Directory link appearing under the OFFICIALS tab. Once you arrive at the Directory page, select your USA Hockey District using the appropriate links and find your District RIC and Local Supervisor contact information at your district page.
Where can I get a Rule Book and Officiating Manual?
All new officials will receive a copy of the USA Hockey Playing Rules & Casebook and red Basic Officiating Manual in the mail within a few days of their processed registration. Since the USA Hockey Rule Book is a four-year rule book all returning officials will receive a copy of the Playing Rules & Casebook every four years (after each rule change process).
The Playing Rules and Casebook and all Officiating Manuals are also available for (PDF) download online at the Rule Book & Resources page under the OFFICIALS tab.
A mobile friendly version of the USA Hockey Rule Book & Casebook is available by entering USAHockeyRuleBook.com into your computer, tablet, or smart-phone web browser.
Where do I find out about the seminars in my area?
Since seminar attendance is one of the registration requirements, USA Hockey conducts several hundred seminars throughout the country each season. You can obtain seminar information by clicking the Seminar Registration link under the OFFICIALS tab at USAHockey.com and then use the search fields at the Seminars page to find a seminar in your area. Please Note: You are not required to attend a seminar in you local area. An official may attend any accredited seminar in any District and still get credit toward their membership.
How do I get credit for attending the classroom seminar?
Depending on where you live, each official who attends a USA Hockey seminar must complete Seminar Registration and check-in at the seminar they attend. Seminar attendance information is then sent to the National Office where your attendance is matched up with your registration record.
If Pre-Registration is not required in your area, it is imperative that each official "check-in" at the seminar. Furthermore, they may be required to sign an Attendance Form. Officials who do not go through the required seminar "check-in" process may not be given credit for seminar attendance.
What should I bring to the classroom seminar?
Generally, a notebook, pen and your current season USA Hockey rulebook is all you should need for your classroom seminar.
When will I receive my Card and Crest?
Once the National Office has received your,
your Card and Crest will be issued to you and you will be eligible to work games.
What do I have to do to make sure I am receiving emails such as registration conformation and exam results?
All of the emails sent from USA Hockey come from a server with the address of @usahockey.org. You need to enter in a valid email address such as officiatingexam@usahockey.org into your email address list and that will let your spam filters know it is an "accepted" address.
Naturally, keeping your contact information current and accurate in the USA Hockey database is also critical to successful communication. To update your personal information please contact RefHistory@usahockey.org or call the Officiating department at the USA Hockey National Office (+1.719.576.8724)
There is a lot of stuff going to and from the National Office. How long does it take to receive materials?
Generally, we are simply at the mercy of the U.S. Postal Service. Once the material is received at the National Office, it will be processed and the appropriate materials will be sent out within 2 business days. Furthermore, the National Office has little control over is the timeliness of receiving seminar attendance and Closed Book Exam information from our volunteer Seminar Coordinators. They are encouraged to submit the seminar materials within a day of the seminar, but sometimes it takes a little longer to reach the National Office.
Of course submitting your Membership Registration, Open Book Exam, Online Education Modules, and SafeSport training online should speed up this process as we are not counting on the Post Office for obtaining some of the necessary information.
Is there a way I can check my membership registration status?
All USA Hockey Officials may check their membership registration status online in the USA Hockey Courses System.
Before this can be done, the official must create an online profile for themselves in the USA Hockey Courses System. To do this the official must start at the USAHockey.com homepage. Use the Membership Status link under the OFFICIALS tab to access your Courses profile. Once at the page, read all information carefully and scroll down to the sign-in area to "create a profile".
Note: This process simply creates an online website profile and it does not register you as a member with USA Hockey. You will pay no registration fee and your membership information will not be affected.
Now that I have my referee card and sweater crest and I am eligible to officiate, how do I get games?
First, you should be aware that simply completing registration with USA Hockey is not a guarantee of game assignments. Although we highly encourage all of our local supervisors and local game assignors to involve every eligible official in the assignment process, as independent contractor officials it is still up to the individual official to solicit game assignments from assignors, leagues, or affiliate governing bodies.
Contact your local supervisor of officials or local game assignor and let them know you are now eligible to work games and when you are available. If possible, identify a more experienced official in your local area to serve as a mentor and who can also help you get games. Once you get that first assignment, go out and give 100% to do your best and the rest will take care of itself.
Does USA Hockey have any assignment guidelines? What levels of games is each respective level of official eligible to work?
Yes, USA Hockey has established some assignment guidelines. But they are just that – guidelines. There may always be some unusual circumstances or emergency situations where it may be impossible to follow the specific guidelines. In this instance, the game(s) should be played as long as there are capable and completely registered officials available to work.
USA Hockey strongly recommends that our younger officials only work age classifications that are at least one age group younger than what they would currently be playing at. The remainder of the assignment guidelines are available posted below:
| Age Class | Girls' Women's | Referee | Tier I T-II | Linesman | Tier I T-II | Referee | Tier I T-II |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult Elite | Level 4 | Level 3 | Level 3 | ||||
| Adult US | Level 4 | Level 3 | Level 3 | ||||
| Adult No-Check | Women's Adult | Level 3 | Level 2 | Level 3 | |||
| Junior A | Level 4 | Level 3 | Level 4 | ||||
| Junior B | Level 4 | Level 3 | Level 4 | ||||
| Junior C | Level 3 | Level 3 | Level 3 | ||||
| HS Varsity | Level 3 | Level 3 | Level 3 | ||||
| HS JV | Level 3 | Level 3 | Level 3 | ||||
| 18 & Under | 19 & Under | Level 3 | Level 3 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Level 3 | Level 3 |
| 16 & Under | 16 & Under | Level 3 | Level 3 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Level 3 | Level 3 |
| 14 & Under | 14 & Under | Level 2 | Level 3 | Level 2 | Level 2 | Level 2 | Level 3 |
| 12 & Under | 12 & Under | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 1 | Level 1 | Level 1 | Level 2 |
| 10 & Under | 10 & Under | Level 1 | Level 1 | Level 1 | Level 1 | Level 1 | Level 1 |
| 8 & Under | 8 & Under | Level 1 | Level 1 | Level 1 | Level 1 | Level 1 | Level 1 |
NOTE: To be eligible to officiate in any State, Regional or National Championships, an official must be completely registered on or before December 31 of the current season. If possible, only level 4 officials will be assigned to work National Championships.
As a USA Hockey registered official, am I eligible to work non-sanctioned games?
We take pride in the USA Hockey Officiating Program. In fact, we are the only officiating organization that exists in North America that offers extensive, formalized training and education to its members. Whenever you officiate a non-sanctioned game, the players of that league are directly benefiting from the USA Hockey Officiating Program, at no cost to them. This is highly unfair to the 40,000+ teams who do register with USA Hockey.
Although we highly encourage officials to work only USA Hockey sanctioned games, there remains a number of officials who work non-sanctioned games, particularly at the Adult age classifications. Any questions regarding the registration of a team with USA Hockey should be addressed to your District or Affiliate Registrar. If you officiate in a game that is not sanctioned by USA Hockey (NCAA, National Federation of High Schools, and Minor Professional leagues are affiliate members of USA Hockey and may provide separate insurance coverage for their officials), please be aware that:
1. You are not covered under the USA Hockey Membership Benefits while officiating these games.
2. You are prohibited from wearing the USA Hockey Referee Crest.
Please help us in our endeavors to encourage these teams into becoming registered with USA Hockey by not officiating non-sanctioned games. Thank you.
If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact your Local Supervisor of Officials. Thank you for your interest in hockey and happy officiating!