Welcome!  

The KCOA is happy to have you as a member.  If there's anything we can do to make your officiating experience better, please let us know.  To become part of the KCOA (Kansas City Officials Association) and get scheduled for games there are a few steps you must take to begin.

First, there are three websites and one email address you will want to be aware of and bookmark for frequent access.

USA Hockey Officials:  This is where you will register each year, pay your annual fee to USA Hockey, and take your open book test. Note the Registration Rules link; this will outline all necessary steps to have your registration become ‘complete’. The official USA Hockey registration ‘year’ is Dec 1 – Nov 30

Kansas City Officials Association: This is the website for the KCOA. Here you will find announcements (such as for General Membership meetings), seminar notices, Board information, the list of schedulers, and much more.

Arbiter Sports: this is the scheduling program used by the KCOA. In addition to managing your schedule, you’ll also manage your payments from this site

KCOABoard@gmail.com: your way to communicate with the Board of Directors for KCOA

To begin, you must register annually with USA Hockey.  Once you do this, you will receive an email with a link to your open book test.  If you are a first-time official, you will receive a Rules Handbook in the mail.  Study that, along with the Basic Manual and other information you may receive, and take your open book test on-line.

Second, you must attend a USA Hockey seminar annually.  The Local USA Hockey Supervisor of Officials generally schedules several seminars in the area throughout the Fall; see the Seminar tab for current information. Full attendance is required.  The Supervisor will submit a list of seminar attendees to USA Hockey.  Other requirements include a Background Check, SafeSport training, and Online training modules.

When your registration is complete, you will receive your USA Hockey crest and membership card and official’s number in the mail; these come from USA Hockey and not the local association. 

Next, send an email to Ken Vokac at vokack@gmail.com asking to be signed up with Arbiter.  This is the online site that handles all calendars, scheduling and access to being paid.

Once you receive an email stating that you have been signed up (within 7-10 days), go to www.arbitersports.com and officially register yourself.  The site is user friendly so feel free to search around.  Based on the available calendar you have completed and kept up-to-date in Arbiter, the appropriate schedulers will assign you games.  When a game is assigned you will receive an email telling you the steps you then need to take (i.e., going back into Arbiter, accessing your schedule, accepting the game, etc). IF YOU ARE ON A TEAM, PLEASE 'BLOCK' THAT TEAM SO THAT YOU DON'T GET SCHEDULED WHEN YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE PLAYING.

GETTING PAID:

After you are set-up in Arbiter, click on PAYMENTS and then click on the ARBITERPAY LOGO.  Here you will need to set-up your electronic funds transfer (EFT) account so that once KCOA pays you (through Arbiter and then into your ArbiterPay account), you will be able to go in and withdraw your funds.

That’s it!  Feel free to drop a note to the respective Scheduler if you wish to let them know you are all signed up and ready to be scheduled for games.  It’s very important that you keep your schedule in Arbiter up-to-date, so that schedulers know when you are available to do games.

Rest assured that if you are new to the officiating world you will be assigned to work with another official who will “mentor” you while on the ice.

Have a great season and once again, welcome!