ASK THE REF!

Q:

How does the Referee decide a " Head Checking " penalty vs. a " High Stick " penalty.

A:

The guideline is determined by the degree of " impact ". The Referee must take in account several split second decisions.   1. Was the hit to the head area a " MInimal Impact " meaning did the hit first glance off any part of the body first.Therefore the correct call would be as per the other appropriate rules in the rule book, e.g. highstick, elbowing, roughing.   2.. Was the hit to the head area a direct blow, if he answers yes, he must quickly decide was it a " Moderate " impact or a more significant degree of violance, without injury that warrants a Minor and Misconduct.   3. If the hit was a " Severe " impact or with a high degree of violence with out injury, the Referee shoud call a Major and Game Misconduct.   4. Whenever a player is injured from a " Check To The Head " the referee must call a Major and Game Misconduct. All these answers are backed by " Rule 86 " on pages 224/225 in the Referee's Case Book / Rulebook.