Colorado State Officials,
With all the recent focus and points of emphasis that USAH has placed on head contact this year, along with supporting data being collected around the increase of head injuries in youth sports, we need to make sure we as officials are doing our part around the enforcement of rules of which one major one that we often under value is the enforcement of the mouthpiece rule. Let's make sure we are all doing our part to insure all players are properly wearing mouthpieces to further reduce the risk of head injuries.
There is no reason we should be turning a blind eye when it comes to enforcing the mouthpiece rule. This is not a new rule, so the players have no excuse not to have it in their mouth and worn properly in the fashion in which it was designed for. I would recommend we make this a part of our pre game discussion with the coaches to insure all players have a mouthpiece and wear it. It's not good enough to have it hanging out of their mouth or dangling from their mask, or as I had one player tell me this weekend “It’s in my Glove”. Once this pre game warning is made and is clearly communicated, there shouldn't be any complaints from the players and or coaches when it's enforced during the game.
We don't expect you to go out of your way to look for this during the game, trust me there is enough other areas to focus on, but we do expect everyone to realize this is our responsibility to enforce rules that are there to prevent injuries. As with any rule application, if we use a good dose of common sense and preventative maintenance, we will not be perceived as the bad guys, but just doing our part in the game.
I have also cc’d the CAHA Board on this memo to insure it gets passed around on their side of the fence to all the Hockey Directors, Coaches, Parents and Players so they fully understand the entire responsibility doesn't just fall on the officials shoulders to enforce this critical rule around mouthpiece usage. It's critical for our youth to get reminded from all angles so they fully understand the importance of properly wearing a mouthpiece to prevent head injuries.
It’s EVERYONES responsibility!
Thanks in advance for communicating this around our various circles to keep our kids safe from potential head injuries.