WELCOME TO CLEAN WHISTLE OFFICIATING
Clean Whistle Officiating is an organization based in Tampa, FL, with a mission to develop good quality referees from the ground up. Founder David Benmocha, started building referee training programs in 2021 when he realized the challenges for new refs trying to grow their skills and actually get scheduled for paid games. David experienced these challenges when he began reffing ice hockey in 2014, having to navigate a political system that made it difficult to get scheduled for games, going through sub-par/minimum-requirement training, and getting paired with senior refs who wouldn't offer feedback. David's passion for hockey and officiating made him want to grow his skillsand avoid bad habits that many referees fall into. So, he created The Panda Referee social platform to open up public discussion on plays and referee calls. This platform grew through the years, making The Panda Referee asymbol that humanized refs and incorporated a healthy and positive outlook on a field that is often blamed and challenged. This platform connected The Panda Referee to numerous tournaments asking for referees in California, Minnesota, Utah, Tennessee, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Maryland, and more.
David realized that he needed to growa list of quality, reliable refs for these tournaments, ones who carried the same passion and motivation to hone their skills and delivera professional experience, so Clean Whistle Officiating was formed! With the current difficulties of getting involved in reffing stillvery present, Clean Whistle Officiating has been holding training sessions and seminars, offering reviewing for questionable penalty calls on videos, assisting refs to get USA certified, networking refs in the hockey community to get paid games, and scheduling local and travel tournaments with refs coming from our training program. To this day, Clean Whistle Officiating has brought over 250 students through the training program. With both The Panda Referee and Clean Whistle Officiating continuing to expand each year, we stand by our mission to provide accessible opportunities for growing refs, assisting current refs in navigating their careers, and developing role models in the officiating community.