When I first heard that the U-15/17 Boys All-Star Nationals were to be held in Regina, I was excited to get involved and help out with the tournament. Little did I know just how involved I was actually going to be. I received a phone call about a month before and was appointed to be an Assistant Referee for the week. I was thrilled and couldn’t wait for the week to begin. In the month before the tournament I had talked to some friends who had been to the Boys Nationals as players and reportedly had never seen a female official at a male competition before. This news made me uneasy but at the same time it was exciting because I was getting this amazing opportunity to further my career as an official and it just proved that it didn’t matter whether I was a female or a male.

As I walked into the hotel where the pre-competition meeting was taking

place, I met an assessor who made me feel very at ease. But it wasn’t until I walked into the meeting room that I realized that I was the only one not wearing a suit and tie. I received a few blank stares from the other officials but that’s because the room was full of men aged 20-35 and I at the time was a 16-year-old girl. It was intimidating to say the least but we were all there for the same reason. I soon got to know all of the other officials and it just got better from there. My first game was Quebec vs Newfoundland and even though I’d been to that pitch many times before, I’d never been so excited and nervous at the same time. As we walked to the other side of the field in our team of four I know I received some bewildered looks from the players but that was to be expected. As soon as the game started though, I wasn’t the female official, I was just like anyone else. I received the same level of respect and that’s an experience that every female official should have at least once in her career.

The games only got better and so did the experiences involved with the rest of the week. I had a chance to aquaint myself with all the other officials, learned a lot of new things from them, and had my eyes opened to what a National competition was like. For me, it was a completely different level of play from what we have in Saskatchewan and it was more fun than I had ever imagined. Even though I was the only female, and a young one at that, it proved that there was going to be nothing to hold me back from being involved with anything that the boys" could dish out. It was an amazing experience and it was an experience that I will never forget. It encouraged me to keep up and try to upgrade to the next level of officiating just so that I could possibly be invited to another National competition, maybe this time as a referee!

By Chrisine Hoff

ps. I just received an appointment in Saskatchewan and I have been invited to Girls Nationals in PA this year as a referee!! I’m very excited!!