Alex Berard Is The Hockey Ref Shop December Official Of The Month
Congratulations to Alex Berard!
Every month, officials are encouraged to apply for a chance to become "Official Of The Month". The Official Of The Month will be featured on our Referee's Crease blog and will also receive a free gift from Hockey Ref Shop.
Our December 2017 Official Of The Month is Alex Berard!
Name: Alex Berard
Age: 21
Hometown: Winslow, Maine
We interviewed Alex to learn more about him and his background in officiating.
Eric:
When and why did you start officiating?
Alex:
I began officiating in 2007, when I was 11 years old mostly because I knew most of the officials in area through hockey and they seemed to enjoy it. I wanted to experience another side of the game, plus who wouldn’t want to make a little bit of cash as a 11-year-old staying involved with the sport you love!
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Eric:
What do you do outside of officiating?
Outside of officiating, I am currently a junior at Thomas College in Waterville, Maine, majoring in Sport Management, with a coaching minor.
My greatest memory would be giving back to the younger officials this year at a few of our states seminars. The number of officials in the state of Maine has been declining for years so it’s great to see more younger kids coming out to learn how to become a referee. Being able give back to these kids is an amazing feeling and made me think of me when I was their age in their shoes.
The dream is of course the National Hockey League. If my dream doesn’t come true, I’d like to fall back onto Division I, preferably Hockey East.
It’s a great way to stay involved with the game and make some money doing it. You get to see another side of game and experience it as an official and realize how different it is from playing to officiating.
Skate hard, get to know the rule book inside and out, ask questions with your partners and more experienced officials, bug your assignor to skate, and don’t get discouraged.
Positioning is key. Staying out of the way of play by skating hard and being focused will show everyone watching that you want to be there and really care about what you’re doing. A good tip to do this is to all ways face the puck. By doing this it gives the players an option when they are skating toward you by either going through you legs, shooting it off the boards, or skating around you.
I saw it a couple of times on Facebook and Instagram and thought it wouldn’t hurt to check it out and I wasn’t disappointed. Hockey Ref Shop has great selection of official’s equipment and little things that you can’t find on any other hockey site, all at great prices too with incredible customer service.
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