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Hockey referee scheduling software

Referee assigning for youth hockey associations.

Staff every ice slot across your rinks. Set up two referees, a referee with linespersons or a four-official crew game by game, send the assignments when the weekend is filled, and see who has accepted.

Try Ref GridSee pricing
  • Referee 1 and Referee 2 by default
  • Linesperson roles one click away
  • Officials need no account

A worked example

A Saturday morning across two arenas

An association has two sheets at Lakeview Ice Arena and one slot at Northgate Arena, a 20-minute drive away. The crews below are the ones this association uses for each level. Which officiating system applies at your levels comes from your association’s rules.

Saturday ice slots at Lakeview Ice Arena and Northgate Arena
Ice slotRinkDivisionOfficials
6:45–7:45Lakeview Ice Arena, Rink A10URiley Chen, Dana Price
7:45–9:00Lakeview Ice Arena, Rink A12URiley Chen, Dana Price
8:00–9:15Lakeview Ice Arena, Rink B14UReferee Marcus Webb; linespersons Ana Ruiz, open
9:45–11:15Northgate Arena18URiley Chen, Marcus Webb, Ana Ruiz, open

When the assignor picks Riley Chen for the 7:45 game on Rink A, the picker lists her 6:45 game under “Also working”. The first game ends at 7:45, so the two don’t overlap. Had someone already put her on the 8:00 game on Rink B, the pick would show “Overlaps”. Both are warnings, and the assignor decides.

Enter the end of each ice slot. A game with no end time is assumed to run 90 minutes. Without end times, the 6:45 game would appear to run until 8:15, and every official working both early games on Rink A would be flagged with an overlap. The warning is marked as assumed, but a morning full of them hides the real clash.

Ref Grid doesn’t check travel time between rinks. Riley finishes at Lakeview at 9:00 and is due at Northgate for 9:45. The 9:45 pick lists her Lakeview games under “Also working”, and whether 45 minutes covers the drive and getting dressed is your call. Games she works for another association don’t appear at all.

For a 6:45 game, an official who accepted can download an .ics file for it, and you can switch on up to three reminders, each from an hour to 30 days before puck drop. Reminders go only to officials who have accepted.

Inside Ref Grid

Officiating systems, game by game

Ref Grid has no hockey rules and doesn’t check that a crew is complete for its level. You set the positions on each game, and the board shows one row per game with a cell for each position, so an unfilled linesperson stands out.

Two referees

Every new game starts with Referee 1 and Referee 2. For a level your association works with two referees, the game is ready to fill as it is.

A referee and two linespersons

Remove Referee 2 and add Linesperson 1 and Linesperson 2, which Ref Grid suggests when you add a position to a hockey game. Rename Referee 1 to “Referee” if you prefer; a position can be renamed until it has been offered to someone.

Four officials

Keep Referee 1 and Referee 2 and add the two suggested linesperson positions. A game can hold up to 12 positions, so an off-ice role or an observer can be added the same way, under any name.

Referee and linesperson fees

Each position on each game has its own fee, so a referee and a linesperson on the same game can be paid differently. The pay report covers accepted games whose puck drop has passed and exports as CSV or QuickBooks Online bills. Ref Grid doesn’t pay anyone.

Officials answer from a link

Each assignment arrives as its own text, email or both, with a link to accept or decline. No app, account or password. The page shows the rink, date, start and end time, teams, division, position and fee. It doesn’t show who else is on the game.

Ice that moves

When a rink swaps your slot or a game moves to another sheet, change the time or location and every official who was sent the game gets the old and new details. Cancel the game and they get a cancellation notice. Officials you had only drafted hear nothing.

Limits

What Ref Grid leaves to you

  • No levels or registration checks. Nothing stops you putting a first-year official on an 18U game. Keep each official’s level and registration in the notes on their record.
  • No crew-at-once assignment. Each position is picked separately, even when the same four officials work together all morning.
  • No travel-time check. The same-day hint shows the other rink. The drive between them is for you to judge.
  • No chasing silence. Officials who haven’t answered get no automatic follow-up. The dashboard counts the assignments still awaiting a response.
  • One association per account. An assignor covering several associations runs them in one organization, told apart by division and rink, or keeps separate accounts.

Where to go next

  • Scheduling a tournament

    Counting slots, rest between games, keeping officials off their own club’s games, and a checklist.

  • Avoiding double-booking

    Missing end times, travel between sites and officials who work for other assignors.

  • How to pay referees

    Publishing a fee schedule, paying for games worked, and a pay sheet template.

One plan, with a free trial: see the pricing.

Request a demo

See how Ref Grid would work for your league or club

Tell us about your organization and we’ll get back to you.

Prefer to look around yourself? You can set up your organization without talking to us: get started.

Roughly how many you assign.

What you run today, and what you are hoping to change.

We reply by email. No automated call.

Put this weekend’s ice slots in.

Import the games with their end times, set the positions each level needs, fill them, and send.

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