Sisters Kate and Emma Roos got a lining opportunity in a Penticton Minor Hockey Association atom game they never saw coming.
The Roos’ stepped onto the ice to find it was their uncle, veteran referee Kirk Wood, who would be working the game with them.
“We were pretty surprised because our little cousins kept on teasing about how they were wondering why we had to change in this dressing room and why we didn’t get to go in the other one,” said Emma, 15.
“When she made eye contact with her uncle across the ice, she knew she had been had,” said mother Leslie Roos of Kate. “It’s pretty neat that my children get that tie over with him.”
Almost finished their first season as officials, Emma said she wasn’t nervous.
“It was good. It was fun reffing with him,” said Emma, adding that Wood suggested they use their voices more and be more direct about calls.
The main question Kate asked was if a mercy rule was in place as Penticton was handily defeating Salmon Arm.
For Wood, it was special to work a game with his nieces. It all came together when Wood contacted Larry Jeeves, referee-in-chief of the PMHA. Wood was in town to work the BCHL match between the Penticton Vees and Alberni Valley Bulldogs that evening.
“I always thought, I wanted to stick around in the game long enough to referee with my boys,” said Wood, 42, who has officiated in the Western Hockey League and American Hockey League. “I don’t think that is going to happen. They are just eight and nine now. I’m fixing to leave the ice.”
Wood, a pastor of community engagement for SouthRidge Fellowship in Langley, gave his nieces a positive assessment.
“When you are a young official and you are new, being assertive is so hard,” said Wood. “Most of our lives we don’t go through trying to be boisterous and loud and really obvious. Their personalities are different. One is a little more assertive than the other.”
Wood said they will get there and had lunch with them to discuss things.
“They are on their way, they love the games,” said Wood. “For most of the game I just had a smile on my face. To be able to go out on the ice and share something that we are both passionate about, we all love the game. To share that was super cool.”
Kate said she and Emma got into officiating partly because of their uncle, who they watched work a game for the first time Saturday and because they wanted a new experience.
“It’s been good, it’s been a lot of fun,” she said.