Steve Blacklock has become an officiating legend in the sport of ringette. He started officiating in Guelph in 1980 and moved quickly from a local referee to a provincial official at the 1984 provincial championships. His feel for the game made him a fixture at that event for the next 25 consecutive years.
At the national level Blacklock officiated in 19 Canadian Ringette Championships, including the past five Canada Winter Games where he was always handed the whistle for the final games. His consistency, understanding of the rules, and sense of fairness led to an offer to officiate at the 1994 and 2004 World Ringette Championships. Blacklock also was highly respected when it came to the rules of the game. He served as the sport’s rulebook editor during a time when significant rule changes were implemented. He also served several years at the national level with Ringette Canada’s officiating committee, but one of his greatest thrills was mentoring young officials.
“I get great joy out of that if they want to learn,” said Blacklock. “So those that want to sit down and talk about the sport and talk about the psychology of officiating, I will spend all day with them. As soon as a young official learns it’s all about the game and not their ego, the more success they will have.”
“In the past 20 years, he has been one of the best of all time,” said Ringette Canada executive director David Patterson to the Guelph Tribune upon Blacklock’s induction into the Canadian Ringette Hall of Fame in 2010. “There is a whole generation of officials out there that Steve has helped out with.”
“I enjoy every aspect of the game,” said Blacklock recently. “I love the people, the skating, and helping the game the grow.” In 1991 he was named the provincial official of the year and has also been inducted in the Ontario Ringette Association Hall of Fame.
Inducted into the Guelph Sports Hall of Fame – Official category – on June 10, 2015
