Joy Johnston has stood down from her role as Referee-in-Chief of Ice Hockey UK.
Johnston was appointed to the role in 2017 with the creation of the new Ice Hockey UK Referee Section.
Under her guidance, a leadership team was created and the new management structure saw managers appointed to oversee the various officiating levels and look after their development.
This created a clear pathway for officials at the start of their journey up to Elite League ice hockey and international recognition.
IHUK continued to send dozens of officials to IIHF tournaments across the world, including World Championship tournaments, Olympic Qualifiers and Continental Cup competitions, while officials were also involved in the Champions Hockey League.
There were 11 IIHF assignments at tournaments in 2018, 12 in 2019 and 17 were selected for 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic.
In 2018, Johnston was one of the referee supervisors at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. This came four years after she was referee for the women’s final at Sochi 2014 as Canada beat USA in overtime.
The Ice Hockey UK board would like to thank Joy for her hard work and dedication in the role of Referee-in-Chief for the past three-and-a-half years.
In the short term, the IHUK Referee Section will be overseen by the management committee and the process for a new Referee-in-Chief will be announced shortly.