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On-ice officials are a vital part of the Canadian amateur hockey system, yet annual attrition rates are alarmingly high at 30%. Previous research has largely emphasized the role of stress/psychological factors as contributors to officiating dropout. In contrast, we explore a broad range of factors that might contribute to amateur ice hockey officials' decisions to discontinue their participation. We observe that new, inexperienced officials were more likely to cite stress/psychological factors (e.g. verbal abuse, threat of abuse) while experienced long-serving officials were more likely to indicate career or family demands as their primary reason for leaving officiating. Importantly, regardless of experience level, organizational factors emerged as secondary yet omnipresent contributors to these decisions. Thus, the purpose of this investigation is to re-examine the qualitative responses received in our two aforementioned investigations using an analytical framework premised on the theory of perceived organizational support. Our findings reveal, in order of descending frequency, that officials who had discontinued their participation felt negatively about their local hockey associations with respect to the lack of (1) opportunities to move up the ranks; (2) appropriate fee structures to pay them what they deserve; (3) assistance to help them perform their duties to the best of their abilities; (4) consideration given to officials' best interests when making decisions that affect them and (5) appreciation for their efforts. These findings provide important insights into issues that local hockey associations might address in an effort to retain officials.
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