SportsLife 2015, issue 5 | Page 31

Experience with Technology As a group, we now have experience working with new technology and we have figured out dos and don’ts of using 2 way radios in game environments. The technology itself has proved very beneficial, and its impact was clearly seen in the development of the officials at the camp. New Technique The technology allowed us to experiment with new techniques in delivering training. One technique, in particular, proved very effective. In mentoring, there is an old technique of doing a “position shadow” in order to teach a new referee positioning on the ice. Basically, the two of you are exactly opposite each other on the ice so that they can react and follow you more easily for positioning. They can also react more easily if the mentor’s arm goes up for a penalty. The downside to this technique was that it left no opportunity for instruction or conversation. By integrating the 2 way radio headsets we were able to compensate for this shortfall and gain the benefit of both techniques in mentoring. As an added bonus, the mentor has a better opportunity to observe what the referee is looking at, and we can quickly teach a new referee to manage their ring focus and identify penalties. The helmet camera is an excellent tool, but it requires an hour after the game to complete a full game review. RECEPTION Some participants had valuable comments on this process; “As a first-time mentor, I learned a lot during this camp, mostly because of the concentration of resources at everyone’s disposal. (experienced referees, mentors & coaches) Opportunities for networking and discussion of specific game situations were plentiful.” “Supporting new officials, especially during their first few games is important as it is difficult to process all of the information learned in the course and apply it in a real situation. I suspect they felt supported doing their first games with so much support and seeing their peers doing it at the same time.” “I found it an awesome experience and did indeed also see improvement by some refs over the weekend. The dividends this will reap are huge. The new refs (and even the more experienced ones) will be able to come out at the start of the season with greater confidence in their calls and abilities. Which in turn will translate to better reffed games.” “As a third year referee, I found that the opportunity to have my games observed and commented on by the mentors who were mentoring my partners, was beneficial to me.” “The camp was well run, organized, and pleasant. It was a pleasure to be part of it.” “I think that this development camp is a fantastic idea and from my perspective worked really great!” “Honestly, I wish we had a camp like that when I started reffing. It was really awesome!” Carol Mydlo, President of the Manitoba Ringette Association states; “I am truly impressed with the forward thinking and commitment Paul (Shipman) has made to improve, educate and develop the officials in our sport.  The \