2022-05-18

Bridgewater hockey official chosen to work national tournament

by KEVIN MCBAIN

  • <p>CONTRIBUTED PHOTO</p><p>Adam Culbert of Bridgewater is working in his first national tournament this week in Alberta.</p>

kevin.mcbain@lighthousenow.ca

BRIDGEWATER - Adam Culbert's life-long goal was to be a hockey referee. He has worked hard and donned the pinstripes as soon as he was allowed to, at age 14.

Last week, he found out he was chosen to take the next step in his career. He was chosen by Hockey Canada officials to work the U18 Telus Cup national championships that are taking place in Okotoks, Alberta this week.

"I'm feeling psyched. I feel super honoured to represent Bridgewater and the South Shore and more specifically, the province. It's super cool," said the 19-year-old 2021 graduate of Park View Education Centre.

Culbert is finishing out his first year in the Commerce program at Saint Mary's University in Halifax.

There were 14 officials chosen for the event and he is one of three Nova Scotians on the roster for the six-team event. The announcement was made by Hockey Canada on May 9 where they also announced the officials for the 2022 Esso Cup and the 2022 Centennial Cup.

Culbert started playing hockey as a youngster, but "I was never the best hockey player out there. I knew that if I followed my career as a referee, I would be able to go a lot farther than I would as a player."

He said that he watched a lot of hockey when he was young and "I thought that I might be able to do that very well. I signed up as soon as I could, and I haven't looked back."

Culbert and other officials were scheduled to make the trip to Alberta Saturday and attend on-and-off-ice training sessions in preparation for the tournament that kicked off Monday, May 16. Preliminary games will continue through to May 20 and wraps up with the semifinal games and the gold medal game May 21-22.

Culbert said he is most looking forward to meeting the supervisors and the other officials chosen from across the nation and seeing how other officials work the game.

"Really one of the best things about refereeing is the people that we work with. We're basically the third team out there," he said, adding that much like the players, the officials have the same kind of bond if not stronger.

Refereeing is not an easy job and is "thankless" in a lot of ways. Culbert says everyone has their own way of dealing with the pressures of the game. The key is to understand your abilities and go out on the ice confident that you know that you know the rules, have worked hard and trust and be true to yourself, and things will go well.

Culbert has worked many games during his short career, estimating that he probably worked more than 100 games in his first season as an official. This year, living in Halifax, he said he was on the ice almost every night, working as many games as he could manage from minor hockey to the university level.

Being chosen to work at a national competition is an honour and he admits there is no cut-and-dry path to get to this point; no tryouts or anything like that. Officials are chosen based on evaluations throughout the season. Culbert suggested to any aspiring officials who want to move up in the ranks...

"You have to work a lot of tournaments and as much hockey as you can whenever you have the opportunity," he said. "Get out there because there may be a supervisor that walks into a rink somewhere looking for officials."

Culbert said that he hopes to go as far as possible as an official in the game of hockey. He said the goal for any official is to work at the highest level possible.

"This tournament is a stepping-stone for my career and hopefully it will give me some momentum going forward. I will continue to work hard and hopefully continue to work my way up," he said.

Culbert will work a few games during the preliminary round and hopes that he will be chosen to work either the semifinal or gold medal games. The officials are evaluated throughout the week and the top officials are chosen to work in the playoffs.

Teams competing in the tournament include the host Sydney Rush and the five regional representatives – including the Atlantic representatives, Moncton Flyers; the Mississauga Reps (Central); Cantonniers de Magog (Quebec); Vancouver NE Chiefs (Pacific) and the Notre Dame Hounds (West).

The event was originally scheduled to take place in Sydney (originally chosen in 2019 to host the 2020 event), but due to lingering COVID-19 protocols, it was decided to move the three junior national championships to Alberta. There were no national championships held in 2020 or 2021.

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