The Columbus Cottonmouths of the Southern Professional Hockey League are helping hockey take a giant leap forward.
The hockey club and league, along with USA Hockey, have announced that female referees Erin Blair and Katie Guay are set to officiate the Cottonmouths’ game versus Fayetteville on Friday, November 21.
Blair and Guay, who both boast a wealth of international experience, will become the first female referees to officiate a professional game in North America since Heather McDaniel in the late 1990s.
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This isn’t the Cottonmouths’ first brush with helping push towards some semblance of equality to professional hockey. They signed Canadian Olympic goaltender Shannon Szabados to a contract last season and brought her back for the 2014-15 campaign.
More via the official SPHL site:
“We are extremely excited to be allowed the opportunity to showcase two of the top female referees in the world,” said SPHL Director of Officiating Mark Faucette. “Shannon Szabados broke the barrier for female players in the SPHL last season, and we are confident that Erin and Katie can do the same for female officials.”
“The Southern Professional Hockey League continues to be an essential partner in the development of top USA Hockey officials,” added USA Hockey Officiating Education Program Director Matt Leaf. “Erin and Katie are two highly capable and qualified officials that I know will represent the entire officiating community to the highest level.”
The NBA and English Premier League have employed female officials, and a Division II college football matchup in 2013 between Miles College and Lane College marked the first time a female-majority crew worked an NCAA game.
Sarah Thomas was the first female to officiate a major college football game in 2007. Thomas, 39, who also worked the 2009 Little Caesar’s Bowl and some NFL preseason games, could become the NFL’s first full-time female official as early as this season.
Hockey is long, long overdue to arrive at this point, but it’s a positive first step in the right direction.
Via Puck Daddy
