Psychological skills and factors related to ice hockey officials’ coping, satisfaction, and performance

Dorsch, K. D., Riemer, H. A. -Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies, University of Regina, Regina, SK
Paskevich, D. M. -Department of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB
Schinke, R. S. -School of Human Kinetics, Laurentian University, Sudbury, ON
SRG 2006

Français

2009

The purpose of this 3-year research program has been to describe, examine, and explore the relationships between sources of stress, coping and mental skills, hardiness, and satisfaction among certified Canadian ice hockey officials. A mixed-method approach was used in order
to achieve this goal.

To date, 267 certified officials (n = 245 males and 22 females; levels 1 through 6) from
the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba have participated in the survey portion of the project. Overall, officials reported low to moderate feelings of stress from the items described on the HOSSI (Ms = 1.50 to 4.1; Dorsch & Paskevich, 2007). The stressors eliciting the strongest response included those associated with making a controversial or wrong call or confrontations with coaches. Coping strategies were measured by modifying Crocker and Graham’s (1995) modification of the original COPE questionnaire (Carver, Scheier, & Weintraub, 1989). It seems that as officials progress through the ranks (levels 3 and above), the tendency is to cope with these stressors by planning, venting emotions, or using humour to a greater extent than officials in the lower levels (i.e., 1 and 2).

Officials’ low to moderate perceptions of stress could be due to the low frequency with which these stressors occur or it may be a function of efficiently using the identified coping strategies. These possibilities were somewhat confirmed through interviews conducted with 7 female officials and 21 male officials in central and eastern Canada. The majority of the officials state that the harassment they receive from coaches, players, and spectators is best diffused through a sense of humour and “having a thick skin”. Officials also reported numerous other skills and abilities necessary for successful officiating. It is our intention to work with provincial hockey associations to determine adequate training methods to develop these skills and coping strategies.

 

2008

Effective sport officiating consists of successfully coping with many acute (short term) physical and psychological stressors. The inability to cope can negatively affect necessary cognitive and psychophysiological processes thereby leading to ineffective performance and potentially, discontinued participation (Anshel & Weinberg, 1995, 1996; Dorsch & Paskevich, 1998; Taylor et al., 1990). This 3-year research program will describe, examine, and explore the relationships between sources of stress, coping and mental skills, hardiness, and satisfaction among certified Canadian ice hockey officials.

To date, the initial survey phase of this research program involved 144 certified officials from the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Overall, officials reported low to moderate feelings of stress from the items described on the HOSSI (Ms = 1.50 to 3.86; Dorsch & Paskevich, 2007). The top five sources of stress were: making a controversial call, making a wrong call, verbal abuse by coaches, confrontation with coaches, and making a mistake in rule application. The stressors occurring most often were: making a wrong call, verbal abuse by players, verbal abuse by spectators, verbal abuse by coaches, and supporting fellow officials when they make a mistake. These stressors occur, on average, once every 3 to 5 games and have happened to at least 84% of the sample. Coping strategies were measured by modifying Crocker and Graham’s (1995) modification of the original COPE questionnaire (Carver, Scheier, & Weintraub, 1989). During a game, officials tend to cope with the stressors by increasing effort and active coping. Before and after a game, the strategies of seeking instrumental social support and planning were most often used.

Officials’ low to moderate perceptions of stress could be due to the low frequency with which these stressors occur or it may be a function of efficient coping strategies. The next step is to interview officials.

2007

Canada is well known for producing some of the world’s best ice hockey athletes. Typically
when one hears this statement, the names of individuals like Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, or Sidney Crosby come to mind. There is, however, another group of professional ice hockey
athletes whose members are not as readily identifiable - individuals like Mick McGeough, Kerry
Fraser, and Don Koharski. These individuals are members of the third party on the ice – the
official. This group is as important to the game of ice hockey as players and coaches, yet are
often over-looked by researchers interested in sport participation and performance. This
oversight is unfortunate since approximately 10,000 officials drop out of ice hockey every year
(Hockey Canada, n.d.). The proposed research program looks to assist in Sport Canada’s goal
of enhancing participation and performance of all Canadian athletes. Specifically, it will
describe, examine, and explore the relationships between sources of stress, coping and mental
skills, hardiness, and satisfaction among certified Canadian ice hockey officials. In addition,
using individual interviews and focus groups, the meanings and experiences of both successful
and unsuccessful coping responses used by ice hockey officials will be examined. We expect
officials’ perception and appraisals of the possible stressors will be able to be modified with
awareness building and related interventions. Therefore, the goal of the proposed research
program is to develop, implement, and evaluate the efficacy of a stress management training
program for ice hockey officials and its impact on officiating performance and satisfaction.

SCRI 2007 Presentation Slides

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