Taylor youth hockey referee threatened by coach during game
Youth hockey ref says coach threatened to assault him
Sean Philippart has been refereeing youth hockey for ten years. So he's used to the name-calling and insults that come with the job, but he says a line was crossed at a recent game in Taylor. He says a coach on the wrong side of a lopsided game was more than unhappy with him.
TAYLOR, Mich. (FOX 2) - No one should be threatened with bodily harm when on the job. That's basically the argument one Taylor youth hockey referee made.
What they're saying:
Sean Philippart has been refereeing youth hockey for ten years. So he's used to the name-calling and insults that come with the job, but he says a line was crossed at a recent game in Taylor. He says a coach on the wrong side of a lopsided game was more than unhappy with him.
"I've ref'd hundreds of games throughout my career," he said. "I'm actually a level 4 tenured official, which is the highest status you can reach in USA hockey. I turned around and asked him to please be quiet. He was verbally assaulting me at the time."
Philippart says he issued a penalty, and it still didn't stop, so he asked another ref to kick the coach out.
"The coach, as he was leaving, bent down and whispered in my ear that he was going to find me after the game in the parking lot and physically assault me," he said.
That, he says, was too far. Philippart was aware of a recent incident in Seattle where parents assaulted hockey refs during a kids' game.
Philippart says when he leaves a hockey game, the last thing he or anyone else should have to worry about is someone lurking in the parking lot waiting to assault him. He says after the game, he walked to his car alone, and fortunately, the coach didn't follow through on the threat of attack.
He filed a complaint with the Michigan Amateur Hockey Association, or MAHA, the organization hosting the game in question.
"I explained the situation as I am right now," he said. "They agreed with what happened, they seemed content with how the game was called. The very next day that team was playing, and I was informed by another official that that coach was placed on the bench, and the phrase that was given to me was, time served."
What's next:
Because this happened so recently, MAHA has no public record of the hearing or its outcome just yet. But Philippart says he's done refing for the season.
He would like to see MAHA take a hard look at situations like this before those threats of violence are carried out.
In the meantime, Philippart will continue to ref for other local leagues.