Kindersley's Shayla Close was one of the eleven officials selected to work at this past weekends Sask First Female Under-16 hockey tournament in Regina. Close donned the stripes alongside and a handful of players from the west central, that you can view in the link below.

She was excited to lace it up at the event with so many eyes on the future.

"Senior officials would evaluate us and give us things we can work on, and tell us what we were doing really good at, and things like that."

Close was selected following a camp earlier this year.

“Most officials have been identified from one of Hockey Saskatchewan’s Female Sask First Camps on Feb. 5 and 6 and selected to participate in the Sask First Female U16 Tournament,” says Trent Cey, manager of officiating development with Hockey Saskatchewan.

Her prior experience includes some U18 work at the above mentioned event, that got her into the most recent one.

"There were on-ice drill sessions, lots of meetings with video for what to expect when you go higher in the ranks with reffing."

Close's future as an official could be an exciting one, as she expects to lines some AAA hockey next year and then gain her Level 3 certification for the ability to do some even higher levels of hockey.

To wrap things up with the local referee we had to make mention of her in-laws here in town; who are eagerly watching their own Justen Close work his way to potential NCAA Men's Hockey championship game appearance. Shayla is excited to watch along with them and be apart of the ride, and is so excited for Justen as well on his journey. 

"I just kind of watch and listen to them go nuts," she laughed, "It should be an exciting weekend for him, and the game will be on at the Red Lion so that's where we will be."

With the above story, her time as a ref, and the Close family's foray into sledge hockey throughout the years; it's fair to say the unit is close to a hockey factory.