A Proud Heritage

The Guelph Hockey Referees Association was founded in 1949 by a group of nine individuals who had a love and passion for the game of hockey. This love of the game led them to the officiating side of the game. However, the group found that they were disorganized when it came to scheduling who was going to referee in which game. The Guelph Hockey Referees Association was the result of their efforts to better organize. The Guelph Hockey Referees Association would like to acknowledge the efforts of these nine people for their contribution to Guelph Minor Hockey and what they did to build a strong foundation for our Association to build on.

Since the inception of the Association, the number of Referees that have been members at one time or another has totalled over 500. GHRA is well known for and takes a great deal of pride in the number of members it has been able to help to get to higher levels of hockey. Several NHL officials have begun their officiating careers in the Guelph Hockey Referees Association. The referees in this group include George Ashley, Will Norris, Ray Scapinello, Ken Bodindestel, Bill McCreary, Paul Devorski, Greg Devorski, Lou Maschio and Ron Asselstine. Many other officials have gone on to officiate in the OHA, OHL and other professional leagues such as the UHL and ECHL. Some of these members were: Wayne Marshall, Chip Sanvido, Brad Fagan, John Evans, Neil Christopher, Jon Fleming, Murray Darroch, Bill Devorski, Jack Fischer, Harry Greene, Barney Reid, Carl Embro, Bob McKinnon, Bill Fischer, Dave Soper and Mike Hasler.

There are many officials that have given numerous years of commitment and service to the GHRA. Individuals who have served with the GHRA for 20+ years are eligible for the honourary position of Life Member. Being selected to be a Life Member is the highest honour an official can receive in the GHRA.

At present, the GHRA has over 50 members annually and officiate over 2,000 games a year, which equates to over 6,000 assignments. The Association officiates for the Guelph Minor Hockey Association, Guelph Girls Hockey Association, OMHA, OWHA as well as Men’s and Woman’s recreational hockey leagues.

Why is the GHRA such a good association? It is because most of those that have been members in the past and have gone on to do higher levels of hockey do not forget about where they started and return to give something back to the GHRA. It is because of the pride our past members take in our association and the pride and responsibility our present members take to meet the high standards our founding members, and the members that have been part of the GHRA before us, set.

GHRA PRESIDENTS SINCE 1949-50

It is only fitting that the former Presidents of this group be placed on our Web Site for the benefit of our members. They are: