LONDON, UK – One of British Ice Hockey’s most successful exports returns to the country this summer as Olympic Referee Joy Johnston heads home from the Gulf.
Joy Johnston, right, Emirates Hockey Leagues (EHL) chief of games officials, with Fatima Al Ali, Referee in the EHL and Yahya Al Jneibi, Deputy Chief of Games Official. Photo: Reem Mohammed.
During two seasons as Chief Referee and game official supervisor of the Abu Dhabi Ice Sports Club, Johnston has built a team of local and expat officials that she believes will serve the Emirates Hockey League well for years to come, after she departs at the end of this month.
The league is relatively small with seven teams and forty two fixtures, so not too strenuous in comparison with European leagues. Johnston’s role involved, officiating, training and supervising officials in the league.
‘It was rare for two games to be scheduled on the same night and so this meant on average 2-3 games a week were being played’ explained Johnston, who moved out to the Gulf full time in September 2014.
‘I would referee 3-4 games a month and then for the other games my role would be supervising and mentoring the officials in the programme here.’
‘We have built up a good team of expat and local officials who are all striving to develop and be the best they can as officials out on the ice each game … it has been a pleasure to work with all of them and I hope they will continue to support each other after I have left.’
Moving to the Middle East can be daunting, but luckily (or unluckily in some cases), the British expats are hardly in short supply in that part of the world and Johnston was spared homesickness by a host of familiar faces.
A number of Brits play in the Emirates League including former Solihull and Romford enforcer Mark Williams, former Milton Keynes players Michael Wales and Tom Carlon plus former Isle of Wight forward Steve Slater.
Johnston has officiated all of these characters previously during her many years in the English Premier League and admits the foreign climes didn’t change the dynamic between players and stripes too much.
‘It is funny how many Brits are in the Emirates Hockey League and how some things don’t change no matter what league you are playing or refereeing in’ she laughed.
‘It is also interesting to watch as the expats from bigger hockey countries react to us Brits with shock that we play the game or that we know what we are doing … the reality is that some of the best players in the league are Brits.’
‘For my first game in Dubai Mall I was warming up in the corridor outside the first-aid room and Chocky (Mark Williams) came bounding down to greet me with a big smile and a hug.’
‘He reported that some of his team-mates had walked into the locker room and said the new ref in town was a girl from England and he instantly knew it must be me and he told them “Don’t mess with her – almost all of my penalty minutes in the UK were given to me by her and her Dad – we better just focus on playing the game otherwise it will be a long season.”’.
‘Having his support on and off the ice has been great. Tom Carlon has also been out here playing for the Abu Dhabi local team and helping coach their junior programme as his day job … again Tom and I had crossed paths with a few penalties back in the EPL but somehow that didn’t matter too much out here.’
‘Often out on the ice when a player was losing their mind over a call Tom would be standing next to me laughing and saying something like ‘What’s his problem?’ or ”Reffing the guys in the EPL seems like a piece of cake compared to these guys”! He was light relief and had a good perspective on the hockey here in comparison to the level we are used to back home.’
‘Muzzy (Michael Wales) is also out here playing for the Dubai Oilers – now some of my favourite games at home have featured Muzzy shaking his head at me constantly and showing his angry face (all the referees in the EPL will know this look from Muzzy)’
‘Playing in the desert hasn’t changed that of course but we agreed to not talk about hockey off the ice and again having some jokes and laughs with him off the ice has been light relief when the intensity of the players is getting a bit much for the league they are playing in.’
Leather sofas.. power points… luxury
The Emirates League plays out of three ice rinks, namely the Abu Dhabi ice rink, the Dubai Mall and the Al Ain ice rink. Johnston has experienced so many different facilities in her career ranging from Olympic venues to the cosy Isle of Wight and historic Alexandra Palace in North London.
The facilities for officials are often an after thought in many cases, especially in the UK, but when asked how the facilities at home compared with those in the Emirates Johnston was complimentary of the latter.
‘Abu Dhabi ice rink is in the Zayed Sport City and the rink is run by the complex.’ explained the 33 year old.
‘The facility is pretty decent and set-up well for hockey with several changing rooms.’
‘The only issue we had to work out there was that the referee room had been taken over by coaches for the local team and we had referees turning up for games with no room to change in and literally changing in the cupboard under the stairs or anywhere they could find somewhere to sit down and put their skates on.’
‘For tournaments we took a firm stance and said ‘no room then no refs’ – so we got the coaches’ room back clean and sparkly. It is still a work in progress if we can keep this room for the regular league and season games.’
‘The Dubai games are played in Dubai Mall which is a nice facility considering it is in the middle of a shopping mall. The changing rooms for the teams are relatively decent but double as the changing rooms for the public when they are public skating.’
‘The changing room for the referees is the first aid room … and then depending on which team won depends where the referees took their shower after the game … so not ideal and many nights I ended up just going home rather than waiting for 20 guys to have a shower and get out of the room!.’
‘The Al Ain ice rink is the predecessor to the Abu Dhabi ice rink and so has changing facilities set-up for hockey … it is a little cold and the referee room doubles as an office … and to shower it is a short walk across the hallway to a slightly temperamental shower which may or may not work.’
‘It is not all glitz and glamour as you can see … and so the referee room in Peterborough for example will actually feel like a palace by comparison.’
‘Recognising where the UAE are in terms of its hockey development journey it is not surprising that the focus has been on players and their needs, however over the last two years there has been a realisation that to develop hockey the whole programme needs to be developed and this means officiating also.’
‘With this in mind I would imagine going forwards more thought will be given to the facilities for referees and definitely steps in the right direction have happened over the last two years already.’
After officiating the Olympic Gold Medal women’s game between Canada and the USA in Sochi 2014, Johnston has arguably reached the pinnacle of her on-ice career and has now stepped off the ice internationally.
In recent months she has been trained as an officiating supervisor by the IIHF and supervised at the World Women’s Under 18’s in St Catherine’s, Canada and the Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway.
‘I think I’ve achieved all I can on the ice with the IIHF and its time to step aside and let others have the opportunities. When I started out officiating I never dreamed I could go to an Olympics. Now I can look back at three Olympics … having refereed the bronze medal game in Torino in 2006 and the gold medal game in Sochi in 2014.’
‘My new goal is to play a small part by inspiring or supporting someone else to achieve their Olympic dream and I would love for that to be another female official from the UK.’
‘I also would love to work my way up as a supervisor to be assigned as a supervisor for the Olympics in the future and help to mentor and support the officials as they live their Olympic moments.’
Officiating team relaxing during photo shoot in Abu Dhabi
The Olympics are of course two years away, so for now Johnston contemplates leaving behind the glitz and glamour of the Emirates for the busy life of London and possibly a return to the English Premier League.
‘I have meetings arranged with the EIHA already to discuss where they can use me best and hopefully I’ll be able to help out with IHUK also and so maybe there will be an opportunity for me to stay on the ice at the same time as supervising younger officials as they progress through the junior leagues.’ she admitted.
‘I haven’t fully decided what to do with myself for next season in terms of reffing and/or supervising. I’ve been two seasons out of the EPL reffing now and I know there are new refs developing and being assigned games for this league’
‘But at the same time I have missed the games, the teams, the fans and the weekends traveling up and down the motorways to be yelled at by fans who love to hate me.’
‘So there is a big part of me that wants to stay on the ice and referee at the EPL level if that still fits with EIHA objectives for me and for others they are developing.’
With the British season now in its summer break, Johnston will have to wait a little while long to enjoy the cool damp air of Hull or the sweltering heat of the Bracknell Hive, but after two years away from home she has other things to focus on when she lands at Heathrow in a few weeks time.
Joy leaving a legacy in the Emirates League
‘Spend some quality time with my husband, family and friends.’ she replies when asked what the first thing she will do on her return.
‘It has been a fantastic experience and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it but I have missed being at home. I’m grateful to my husband (Scott Johnston) for supporting me to take the opportunity and helping me deal with all the challenges I have faced in the role but I’ve missed being with him everyday.’
‘I’ve also missed my friends and family a lot and so over the summer I will be just spending some time with them. Scott’s sister Kate gets married to her fiancé Brad in May and so we will take a trip to Canada for the Wedding and we also get to meet our new nephew Cohen – and then my sister is planning her wedding for next year – so lots of good family celebrations to help out with and look forward to.’
‘But I am sure I will find myself in an ice rink for some games at some-point too.’
The daily London lifestyle of ‘sleep, gym, work, repeat’ as Johnston puts it, may be back on the agenda for now, but one suspects it will not be the end of the story for the UK’s most high profile official.
Contact the author: david.carr@prohockeynews.com
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