Hockey officials are a vital part of the game, and those who give their all for the benefit of the sport and its players are sometimes underappreciated. It can be a thankless endeavour, but those who stand in the fire of the occasional irate coach, player, or parent know that the game doesn’t go on without them.

Jeff Bunko understands that better than most. The 35-year-veteran hockey ref and officiating leader has worked with the best of them. It’s for that level of dedication that Jeff was awarded the Zone 5 Most Deserving Official nod by the Saskatchewan Hockey Association and its Officials Development Program. During that 35 years, Bunko has worked with officials like Brad Meyer and Graham Skilliter who now ref in the NHL.

Bunko was both pleased and surprised at receiving the award.“As a hockey official, you don’t expect those kinds of accolades. It’s a tough thing to do, to ref hockey some days.”

Those occasional challenges have never stopped Bunko and they have never deterred him from encouraging young people to get involved. When they do get involved, Bunko has always been there educating, guiding, and supporting local refs. Bunko is concerned about the lack of young officials entering the game.

“That’s why I got into the mentoring part of this is to help the young generation of officials move up the ranks. When I started a long time ago, I had fantastic mentors, and they helped  me along the way. And I guess that’s the reason I’ve stayed in it that long.”

In his capacity as Referee-in-Chief, Bunko assigns up to 200 games in a regular season along with organizing officiating clinics. While his duties have been curtailed during suspension of play, Bunko looks forward to returning to his duties. 

For young people who have chosen to exit competitive hockey but still want to stay invested in the game, Bunko sees great opportunities to develop leadership and character through officiating. For most fledgling refs, it's a matter of learning the skills and approaches to deal with the game’s occasional problems.

“That’s why I step up to help support those young refs. If they run into a situation like an abusive fan or a parent to help them along the way to deal with it.”

Bunko doesn’t condone abusive fan behaviour, but he sees it as the product of an intense game and something that’s not likely to change on its own. By guiding and encouraging the next generation of refs, Bunko is hoping to see young people build confidence and courage, and in doing so, support attitudes that help make the game of hockey better for everyone.