A hockey game in Musquodoboit Harbour, N.S., had to be stopped and a young referee was escorted out of the arena by police after the official was targeted by hate-motivated verbal assaults from a person in the crowd, say RCMP.

The incident happened Feb. 6 at the Eastern Shore Community Centre between 7:40 p.m. and 8 p.m. AT, said RCMP Cpl. Mandy Edwards.

RCMP are asking anyone who was there to contact them as part of their investigation.

Edwards said a hate-motivated incident is not considered criminal.

“When we have a youth who is learning the game, learning to referee, taking their time to participate and use sport, and when those comments turn to a hate-motivated incident, that is concern for the community and the public safety in general,” she said.

Edwards wouldn’t disclose the age of the referee, but said they are between 12 and 17.

The president of the Eastern Shore Minor Hockey Association said he cannot comment on the specifics of the incident while RCMP are investigating, but said he is taking the matter seriously.

“We have a zero-tolerance policy for abuse and maltreatment,” said Adam Jennex. “We support our referees.”

30% of referees quit after first year

Abuse toward referees in the province has been a problem for a while and it’s the main reason so many officials don’t stay in the sport, says Hockey Nova Scotia.

Todd Thomander, the organization’s director of officiating, said around 30 per cent of officials leave after one year.

“Abuse is kind of the No. 1 reason that we hear from most of the officials,” he said.

There are roughly 1,300 officials in Nova Scotia, with more than one-third of them in their first year, said Thomander.

Amateur sports are facing a troubling decline in the number of officials, referees and umpires across Canada, but Thomander said Hockey Nova Scotia has recently seen an uptick in referee registration mostly because they lowered the age limit.

He said they want to see more referees stay in the program, work their way up the ranks and officiate higher levels of hockey, so it’s concerning to hear so many face abuse early on in their careers.

Thomander said players, coaches and referees are not perfect, but, for some reason, spectators expect officials to get every call right and that’s not fair, especially for beginners.

“There’s a learning curve,” he said. “And at the end of the day, it’s a hockey game, right? It’s a hockey game and hockey is supposed to be fun and everybody should enjoy it.”

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