Submission of USA Hockey Officiating Program membership applications for the 2023-24 Season begins on June 1, 2023 and ends after December 31, 2023.
All 2022-23 membership registrations must be completed by February 28, 2024. No referee cards and sweater crests will be issued after this date.
Membership is valid for the entire season in any district or state in the United States, and membership within any local officials association or local hockey league is not required for USA Hockey Officiating Program membership.
USA Hockey has no minimum or maximum ages for officials. It is highly recommended that, regardless of level attained, officials not work games of their own age classification or higher. Generally, officials can successfully officiate as young as age 10. However, some individual states do have restrictive child labor laws that do not exempt amateur sport officials. It is the obligation of the parent who registers a minor to determine the specific labor laws in their respective state prior to registering with USA Hockey.
All persons who have never registered with USA Hockey as an Ice Hockey Official must register at Level 1 for the first season. All registration requirements must be completed, and you must have your Card and Crest in hand before you may accept assignments.
Returning officials may apply for one level higher than their completed registration level the previous season.
Once completely registered, an official who is under the age of 16 years-old may remain at Level 1.
An official who is 16 years-old (or older) and has 2 (or more) years of completed officiating membership registration, must advance to Level 2.
Officials are allowed to take one season as "unregistered" or "incomplete" and return at the same level they were last completely registered at with the exception of Level 4. Level 1 registered officials are allowed to take one season off and still be eligible for Level 2 the following season. The level that each returning official is eligible for is designated on the online officiating application.
Once the online Membership Registration application has been submitted to the National Office, an official cannot change the registration level they have applied for.
More information pertaining to these steps is posted below.
LEVEL 1 REQUIREMENTS:
LEVEL 2 REQUIREMENTS:
LEVEL 3 REQUIREMENTS:
*Level 3 Tenured Officials must attain an Open Book Exam score of 45/50.
LEVEL 4 REQUIREMENTS:
*Level 4 Tenured Officials must attain an Open Book Exam score of 45/50.
AFFILIATED (NON-SKATING) MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENTS:
IMPORTANT NOTES:
An official may not change their membership level to a higher level once their online membership application is submitted.
"Complete" membership registration means that an official has completed all steps (exams, seminars, online training, etc.) at the level for which he/she has applied.
"Incomplete" means that an official has filed an application but has not completed all the necessary steps to be complete at any level.
A new incomplete official may not officiate any USA Hockey sanctioned games until he/she is completely registered and receives their current season referee card and crest.
Once complete, a membership is valid through November 30 of the following season (e.g. a 2022-23 membership is valid through November 30 2023). If the member does not complete their current season membership prior to November 30, their membership expires and they become ineligible to work USA Hockey sanctioned games until they complete their current season membership registration.
To be eligible to officiate in any State, District or National Tournaments, an official must be completely registered on or before December 31 of the current season.
Each season all officials must complete an Open Book Playing Rules Exam.
Officials who do not receive the minimum passing score for their registration level, will be given access to a Re-take Exam. The Re-take Exam is available after a seven day waiting period (from submitting the first exam), and once available this re-take must be completed within 30 days.
Attendance at a sanctioned USA Hockey Officials Classroom Seminar is required for all applicants, regardless of level.
Classroom Seminar sessions may be offered in a "In-person" or online "Virtual" classroom (via Zoom Meetings). Please make sure you read the seminar schedule carefully regarding what type of seminar is being offered.
At the seminar, every official and instructor in attendance must be sure to "check in" with the Seminar Coordinator to confirm attendance credit. The attendance form will be returned to the USA Hockey National Office for credit within 24 - 48 hours after the conclusion of the seminar.
NOTE: An official is not required to attend a seminar in their respective state or USA Hockey District. An official may attend any sanctioned seminar in any district and receive credit toward registration.
Level 4 Official applicants must attend a Level 4 specific seminar for proper credit.
LEVELS 2, 3 & 4 Only
Online Video Modules consists of a series of course categories (Required, Positioning, Penalty Criteria, etc.). All course categories must be completed to finish online training.
All modules within the Required and Elective categories must be completed. The Elective categories contain a menu of "elective" modules and an official must complete the required number of modules (e.g. 4 modules of 7 offered) within the category to complete the category.
There will be a short quiz at the end of each module that the official must pass to complete the module and continue with education. If the official does not pass the quiz, the module will reset and the official must complete the module again.
Returning Level 3 and Returning Level 4 officials may fast-forward through the Elective video modules to proceed directly to the quiz to complete the module. If they do not pass the quiz, they must complete the entire module again.
As part of USA Hockey's continued effort to create a safe playing environment for all participants, those officials who are a 2006 Birth Year or older at the beginning of the registration season are required to complete the online U.S. Center for SafeSport education program.
The online program is free of charge and is hosted on the U.S. Center for SafeSport web platform.
NEW FOR 2023-24: Per United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee and U.S. Center for SafeSport policy, all returning officials must renew SafeSport training within 12-months of the previous season's training (e.g. if you completed training on September 15, 2022, you must renew your training by September 15, 2023). An official that does not maintain annual training within 12 months will become ineligible to work any USA Hockey sanctioned game.
CLICK HERE TO BEGIN TRAINING
All officials who are 18(+) years-old or older by June 1 of the current year, must submit to a USA Hockey coordinated Criminal Background Screen. More information about screening can be found at this page.
Background screens are valid for two seasons, and no background screen performed by an outside entity or governing body will be accepted.
Registration with the USA Hockey Officiating Program does not guarantee any official any game assignments.
Officials are responsible to obtain their own game assignments from Local Game Schedulers as designated in each District. Any game scheduler who assigns incompletely registered officials for games is subject to serious liability as he/she jeopardizes the insurance coverage of the officials and both teams involved. Whenever possible, only level-qualified officials should be assigned to games. Updated listings of currently registered officials are available from the District Referee-in-Chief on a regular basis.