IIHF Women’s World Championship Qualification Series, Yokohama Japan

In September I found out from the IIHF that I was assigned to officiate at the Women’s World Championship Qualification Series in Yokohama in Japan between 8 and 11 November. 

What is the tournament?

During an Olympic year the Women do not play a World Championship and so there is no team that officially is relegated down to Division 1.  However because Division 1 does play their tournament in an Olympic year there is a winner who would normally be promoted to the World Championships but can’t automatically go up because no one is automatically coming down.  So the year after an Olympics the team who finishes in last place for the Olympics is required to play the winner of Division 1 in a three-game series to determine who will go to the World Championships and who will go to Division 1. 

How did I feel to be assigned to this tournament?

Tournament puck and accreditation

The year after an Olympics you always hope to get the World Championships to officiate and to stay at the top level of events for the IIHF.  However this tournament is of equal importance and high pressure for the teams involved and I am always happy to be assigned to an IIHF tournament regardless of the level or where it is. 

Quite often for the teams involved, staying at the top level World Championships can have an effect on funding and for the development of women’s ice hockey in that country.  So the games mean far more than winning or losing.  Every game has the intensity of a final with a lot at stake. For the teams it is their Olympic final and so I guess it is fitting that the two referees assigned to the tournament both officiated an Olympic gold medal match – Aina in Vancouver in 2010 and me in Sochi earlier this year!

It is an exciting tournament to be assigned to because of the importance of the games but for me the excitement was also about being given a tournament in a country I have never been to before.

Why did I get assigned the tournament?

After so many years working as an official for the IIHF I know that all officials get anxious about what tournament they will be sent to each year and what it means for their future officiating career with the IIHF.  However, having been in the programme for so many years I know that there is no point in getting anxious or worrying about what tournament you are sent to by IIHF.  The only thing you can worry about is your own performance because that is the only thing you can control.  It is not my job to worry which tournament they send me to or try to understand why I have this tournament rather than another tournament … I just have to go and do the best job I can do and control what I can control. 

At the rink in Yokohama

I am also mindful not to forget to enjoy the journey along the way.  The goal may be to officiate at a World Championships or an Olympics but if you get so stressed about the goal and fixated on it then sometimes you forget to enjoy the journey and experiences along the way.  Right now I get to travel the world to referee ice hockey tournaments and to make new friends at every tournament I go to … that alone is very cool.  I also have to remember that many of the friends I have made from the USA and Canada only get to experience four years in the IIHF officiating programme and one Olympic cycle because there are so many other officials in those countries who deserve an opportunity to go to the tournaments.  Given I am from a country with less officials and one which does not have to have automatic assignments for top level world championships I am fortunate enough to have been in the system for 11 years and seen through three Olympics cycles. 

Jamie and Danielle fight their way through the media after the game!

I need to have fun and enjoy the experience because I am fortunate to be in the position I am and to get the opportunities and experiences I do because of my sport.  Yes, I can be disappointed if I don’t get a tournament I want to get, however I have to put it into perspective and see the wider context of all the opportunities and tournaments I do get to go to and experience.

I have travelled to some amazing places and made some great friends … and so I was really excited about experiencing Japan and getting to meet some new officials at the tournament too.

What is it like in Japan?

There are many travel books out there for people to read to find out what it is like to visit Japan … however for me nothing can really describe the culture and the country as well as visiting and experiencing it.  Japan is like no-where I have ever been before and is certainly a country I would like to go back to visit.

Trying to blend in with the locals!

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in a society where there is ultimate respect for one another … that is peaceful … clean … bustling yet calm at the same time?  Where people are encouraged to respect each other and communicate with everyone in an appropriate way and where technology barriers are pushed and used to their full potential.  A society where people respect the environment they live in?  This, for me, is Japan.

Upon arrival at the airport I went to get my bags from the conveyer belt and I noticed that everyone was standing respectfully behind a line drawn out 2 metres away from the belt, which people only crossed when they could see their bag and it was close enough to grab.  I did not have to wrestle my bags off the belt through people crowding around making it difficult for anyone else to get their bag … how refreshing! 

Ordering food in Japan can be quite a challenge if you do not speak Japanese!

A girl hugged me on arrival and welcomed me to the country as I walked out of the arrivals hall.  She excitedly took me to wait for a bus to the hotel.  I noticed immediately that all of the signs were in Japanese with little or no English and as she talked to the bus operators I felt very glad she was there.  She explained to me she was from Taiwan and had moved to Japan and learnt Japanese but sometimes she didn’t speak with the right level of respect or formality required.  She further explained that there is a way of speaking to people based on how familiar you are with them and you are not supposed to over-step the formal boundaries as a sign of respect for the person you are communicating with.  This was my first insight into the levels of respect required for communication in this country and in a way it is endearing and refreshing that people do this. 

Outside Sensoji Temple

As the buses pulled in and then left, the operators from the bus companies went about their work of taking bags on and off of the buses and then as the buses departed they would stand facing the bus and bow.  The constant bowing was something I noticed more and more throughout the week.  To greet and to say goodbye to people the Japanese people bow to each other as a sign of respect.  Quite nice to witness and you find yourself very soon bowing to people to say hello and goodbye – however it becomes quite funny as when you say goodbye it almost becomes a bowing competition where you both walk away backwards bowing … it is a miracle anyone ever leaves because the bowing and goodbye process can take some time!

I also noticed that there was no rubbish anywhere on the streets or in the airport … you would think this was because there are a lot of rubbish bins for people to use but as we found throughout the week they were actually very difficult to find and so it was more that people respected their environment so much that they took their rubbish with them rather than leave it.

Dinner with everyone in a Sashimi restaurant

Throughout the week I became more and more conscious of the politeness and respect the Japanese people have for each other and also their wonderful hospitality towards us.  The Referee-in-Chief for Japan took all of the officials out for a meal one evening, which was fantastic, and he ordered us lots of different food to try.  The next night we ended up in the same restaurant as him and unknowingly to us he paid half of our bill.  On the final night he took us to another restaurant and again ordered lots of different food for us to try.  It will be a shock to go home and not have someone so kind looking after me!

As we explored the city and did some souvenir shopping we noticed several other things.  The streets are lined with small electric or hybrid cars.  Perhaps I noticed this more than others because right now I am living in a country where the cars are huge and guzzle gas.  In Japan I was almost faced with the complete opposite where people drive the smallest, most environmentally friendly car they could find. 

Rocking my Kimono on the Tokyo subway

As we bought gifts in shops we noticed that the vendors did not speak English at all to us and in most cases this was because they spoke very little, if any, English at all.  However it would be rude for them not to speak or to ignore us and so they would talk away to us in Japanese as if expecting that suddenly we would understand Japanese and start to talk with them.  In other countries I have been I have found it quite rude for people to continue to speak their own language when they know you cannot understand them but in Japan it is done so in a friendly way. Rather than not say anything and ignore you, as this would be rude, they try to speak to you and welcome you into their culture.  It is their way of trying to interact with you, which feels very welcoming, and in the end you feel bad for not being able to communicate back with them. 

Me outside Sensoji temple

The purchasing experience is also a fun one.  Everything you buy is wrapped up several times for you even if it is just a key ring or a magnet.  It is first put in a small box and then wrapped up in paper, then put into a small paper bag and finally into a plastic bag with handles.  It can be quite the process and there is no such thing as a quick purchase in Japan because you then have to wait for the wrapping process to begin.  In a nice way if you are buying gifts then they are already wrapped for you!

Tourist shops leading up to the Temple

 

 Finally it would be remiss of me when talking about what it is like in Japan to not mention the number of people who walk around wearing germ masks covering their nose and mouth.  I have seen this before in London with Japanese tourists and have always assumed that they wear this mask to prevent themselves from catching germs and that they are over-paranoid.  However I learnt that the people wearing the masks are actually doing so because they themselves are starting to get a cold and out of respect for other people they wear the mask so as not to spread their own germs to others.  I felt slightly embarrassed about my wrong assumption, which probably says more about my ignorance and reaction to something different.  However, now I know, it makes a lot more sense, and certainly fits in with my observations of the Japanese culture being very respectful of other people and the environment we all live in.

Games and officials

Me with Jamie and Danielle after our first game

One of the nicest things about this tournament was meeting new officials from around the world at the same time as seeing old friends and officials I met over ten years ago!  Tae-Ri from Korea I met in 2004 at the first ever IIHF Women’s Development Camp in Vierumäki Finland, so it was great to see her again.  Then of course there was Aina from Norway, who I have known for many years and been at many tournaments with.  We then had working with us two relatively new IIHF linesmen, one from USA (Jamie) and one from Canada (Danielle).  Both are clearly experienced officials in their own countries but have only been in the IIHF officiating programme for one season and therefore only done one tournament before this event (which happened to be together).  It was really fun to meet them and to see in them many of the feelings, aspirations and dreams I had when I first starting working as an official for the IIHF.  I got to work the first game with both of them and it is clear they both have ahead of them a very long and successful career as officials with the IIHF.

All of the team waiting for our ice practice!

Our supervisor for the tournament was Manuela from Germany who again I have known for many years and been at many tournaments with.  She has been a huge support to me and always brings to tournaments enthusiasm alongside a strong work ethic and a sense of fun.  She always provides really useful feedback and is constantly pushing us to be better and to develop as officials.  It was great to see her again and to work for her as an official.

All the gang at the media area at the rink

This tournament was probably one of those realisation moments for me that I am no longer one of the youngest officials and no longer one of the rookies to the IIHF officiating programme.  This has in-fact been the case for many years now but it just kind of sneaks up on you.  I have been in the IIHF officiating programme for 11 or 12 years now and at 20 years old when I started with them I was quite often the youngest official at a tournament.  Now at 31 years old with numerous world championships and three Olympics under my belt I am the veteran at tournaments and the one who is there to offer advice and support to newer IIHF officials and welcome them into the programme.  It really is fun to be able to give something back to the IIHF and to see new officials join the officiating family.  I am looking forward to seeing Danielle and Jamie at tournaments in the future and to watching as their IIHF officiating careers take off.

Enjoying what Japan has to offer

In the evenings after the games and on the tournament day off we were able to experience some of what Japan has to offer.

Danielle with sushi

One evening we decided to experience the Japanese spa in our hotel.  Aina, Danielle, Jamie and myself got into our bikinis and robes and met by the elevators on our floor.  When Tae-Ri and our Japanese host Kyoko met us at the elevators they were in their clothes and we laughed at them and told them ‘no clothes’ and that they needed to wear just bikinis under their robes.  They looked at us and laughed!  When we got down to the spa we realised why they laughed.  The spa was fully naked with no clothes allowed and so it didn’t matter if you were wearing clothes or a bikini when you arrived because inside you were wearing nothing anyway!  After some laughing we all embraced the culture and then let Kyoko show us how to use the spa.  First to wash sitting on a stool and then to use the hot pool, followed by the cold pool and the sauna and to finish off with a shower and then a soak in the hot pool.  The next night we went back and lay on hot stone before using the spa.  Suffice to say that on both nights after the spa I was fully relaxed and fell straight to sleep once I got back to my room.

After dinner with Referee-in-Chief

I’ve already mentioned that we were spoilt by the Referee-in-Chief for Japan by being taken to nice restaurants for dinner.  Experiencing new food was definitely a theme for the tournament and many of the restaurants we went to only provided menus in Japanese so it was a surprise what we were ordering a lot of the time.  Not being a fish eater I am sure I missed out on some of what is excellent in Japan!  I was assured by Jamie (who is a big Sushi fan) that the sushi was the best she had ever had!   

Aina and Jamie try to figure out how to use chopsticks

Me with Tae-Ri like an expert

Three things stand out for me in terms of the eating experience in Japan.  The first is that they like to bring food to your table that you then cook yourself.  We went to a Sashimi restaurant which was where they brought a soup to your table and put it on a hot plate and they then brought lots of varieties of thinly sliced fresh meat to your table which you dipped into the soup for anywhere between 20 seconds and several minutes for it to cook and absorb the flavours of the soup before eating.   In another restaurant our table had a grill in the middle and meat and fish were brought to our table for us to grill.   

The second thing that stands out, and is probably very obvious, is that every meal is eaten with chopsticks and in many restaurants no cutlery is provided.  This proved to be amusing and challenging for some of the group, as they had not used chopsticks very much before!   

The final point to note is that, whilst many of the menus are only in Japanese, to help you choose, many of the restaurants provide a display of the different food options – some of them do this with real food and others do this with plastic fake food.  Each option is made to look exactly as it will look when it arrives so in one way you know exactly what you are ordering because you can physically see it before you order!

The gang with a Budda outside the Asakusa Temple

On the day off we went to experience Sensoji Asakusa Kannon Temple, which is an ancient Buddhist temple located in Asakusa.  It is Tokyo's oldest temple and one of its most significant.  The temple was very impressive and we all took a coin and threw it into the bars at the base of the temple and made a wish.  Leading up to the temple was a row of market stalls and small shops selling tourist souvenirs and Japanese kimonos.  We all did some damage buying as much as we could … and I fully embraced the Japanese culture by buying a kimono!

Tokyo Square at night

We then went to the Tokyo Square area, which is probably the image of Tokyo that is publicised the most and the one that everyone has in their head when they think of Japan (apart from sumo wrestlers and Mount Fuji of course).  The images of a bustling city with all of the flashing advertisement signs and people everywhere … the Japanese equivalent of New York’s Times Square or London’s Piccadilly Circus.  I grew up close to London and I am pretty much a city girl but even I felt slightly over-whelmed by how busy and crazy Tokyo is!  I can only imagine how it felt for someone who doesn’t come from a city and who until that morning had never been on a train!  Jamie had told us that the Tokyo subway train was her first experience on a train … and it was then that I again realise how fortunate we all are to be traveling the world as ice hockey referees and getting to experience new things because of our sport!  We had 2 hours shopping time in down town Tokyo and we managed a total of three shops – spending most of our time in the Under Armour store trying on everything we could find!  I was quite happy not to stray too far from the meeting point because all of the street signs were in Japanese and so it would have been very easy to get lost!

In Chinese restaurant in my new dress

In China Town

On the final day of the tournament with the game not until the evening we decided to use the morning to go to China Town.  We didn’t have Kyoko our host with us this time and so it was a real adventure as we tried to figure out the train system with the ticket we needed and the route we needed to take.  We made it to China town and again I decided to embrace the culture with a Chinese style dress!  We then ate in a Chinese restaurant, which was great … again with chopsticks, although the server took pity on us and provided us with forks to help us with the rice otherwise it was clear we would have starved!

Best inventions ever …

The gang outside Sensoji Temple

Finally this blog cannot be complete without mention of the way Japan uses technology.  In one of the restaurants we sat at our table with a laminated menu and a special battery operated pen.  We touched the item we wanted on the menu with the pen and then on a panel on the table we selected the quantity and placed the order.  A few minutes later and whatever we had ordered was delivered to our table.  A fun invention and it was like eating in a restaurant from the future!

However, for me, and not to dismiss all other inventions of the 21^st Century, but the heated toilet seat is bar far the best invention ever!  The toilet seats in Japan all need to come with instruction manuals because of the number of buttons and options available.  They offer a range of options, from the classic bidet wash through to odour neutralisers, a dryer system and as mentioned, the heated seat.  The buttons and options are so confusing that we actually asked our poor host Kyoko to talk us through how it all works.  All I can say is that the heated toilet seat is a very welcome invention especially in ice rinks, which tend to be cold places!

Japan wins their spot at the World Championships

Japan wins a place at the World Championships in April

The final game of the tournament saw Japan win and secure their place at the World Championships in Sweden in April.  The devastated Czech team stay in Division 1 for another year.  It was clear from the emotions of the players that the game meant a lot and it was the equivalent of an Olympic final for them.  It was a real honour to work the final game.

Now I am returning back to Abu Dhabi for a busy couple of weeks of games and officiating clinics, which I am running.  It is always nice to go home at the end of a busy tournament … the only difference for me this time is that when I get back to Abu Dhabi there is no-one there to greet me.  Luckily, my wonderful husband is missing me too and has decided to come to visit me again so I can share my adventures with him … I only have to wait 24 hours after I land before I get to see him!