Hockey Manitoba is excited to introduce a new initiative for the 2025 – 2026 season that will combat official abuse.

Beginning in September 2025, all on-ice officials under the age of 17 in the Pembina Valley region will wear a green armband as part of their officiating uniform. The initiative is designed to promote respect towards young officials and to discourage verbal abuse by coaches, parents and players.

The green armband represents the idea that young officials are new to the officiating world in terms of their age and are learning and developing. Ultimately, the goal is to highlight that these are young officials who are providing an essential service to the game of hockey in a public space and should be respected in that role.

“We believe that this initiative is going to have a major impact on officials at the grassroots level and will help us immensely with the recruitment and retention of young officials,” said Tyler Wiwchar, Hockey Manitoba’s Senior Coordinator, Officials Development. “It is imperative that our officials are able to work in a safe environment and this initiative will go a long way in helping us achieve this.”

Although the Green Armband initiative will take place solely in the Pembina Valley region for the 2025-26 season, the plan is to expand the program province-wide in future years. This initiative has been successful in other provincial hockey branches, including in Saskatchewan, as well as in other provincial sports organizations across the country.

Hockey Manitoba acknowledges that there will be an educational component involved with the Green Armband initiative so our organization will be working with our Regions and MHAs to ensure that all of our members are fully aware of the meaning behind the symbol of the green armband and the expectations of the program. The message will be clear that young officials are doing their best and are learning and that abuse in any form will not be tolerated.

In terms of the rollout, all officials aged 17 and under in the Pembina Valley region will be provided with a green armband after attending their in-person certification clinic. Once all officiating clinics have concluded in December, all officials in the Pembina Valley Region will be required to wear their green armband for all levels of hockey. Officials aged 17 and under are required to wear the green armband at a minimum until their 18th birthday.

Officials will wear the green armband on the same arm as their whistle hand, between the elbow and shoulder. For those also refereeing at this age, they will wear one green armband on their whistle arm and a traditional red armband on their non-whistle arm.

As there have always been penalties and discipline for abuse of officials, the penalty for reported 11.1 Unsportsmanlike Conduct, 11.2 Disrespectful and Abusive Behavior, 11.4 Discrimination, and 11.5 Physical Harassment of Officials will double for players and coaches who are penalized and reported under these rules when a green armband official is targeted. (if the lines is a wearing a green arm band and the head official isn’t the head official can still report the incident, and the discipline is still doubled) If any official is wearing a green arm band and the player or coach is removed from the game, the penalty is doubled

If you have any questions or are interested in learning more about the Green Armband Initiative, please contact Tyler Wiwchar, Hockey Manitoba’s Senior Coordinator, Officials Development (twiwchar@hockeymanitob.ca).