A mother is facing criminal charges after allegedly assaulting two referees at her son's high school hockey game in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
The incident happened Jan. 4 at Foxboro Sports Center on East Belcher Road.
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NBC10 Boston spoke with one of the referees, who does not want to be identified. He said both refs are OK, but that parents need to do better.
The confrontation happened over a boys' varsity hockey game between Mansfield High School and Taunton High School, according to National Ice Hockey Officials' Association spokesperson Mike Ober.
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"Nobody was injured in this situation, thankfully," Ober said. "It could have turned out much differently."
Arena cameras captured the moment a woman steps onto the ice as the hockey game ends. Moments later, two referees skate toward her.
Ober said that woman, a Taunton mother, waited more than five minutes for the officials to make their way over toward the locker room.
"The incidents of this are occurring more and more. Not too long ago, I saw a video of a coach absolutely berating a 16-year-old referee, a brand new referee, and we're not getting these kids back when these incidents happen," Ober said.
Foxborough police said in a press release Thursday that the parent involved will be summonsed to Wrentham District Court to face several criminal charges.
Parents at the Foxboro Sports Center told NBC10 Boston they've seen similar inappropriate behavior over the years.
"Parents are just getting out of control when it comes to these games sometimes," said Jen Rosenkranz of Sharon.
"I even saw a grandmother last night that was getting out of control, and I thought she was perhaps going to have to be thrown out," added Lynn Wrzosek of Douglas.
In this same arena, 10 years ago, almost to the day, an assistant coach at Taunton High School was arrested and charged for assaulting a ref after a blowout loss.
Now, there are renewed calls for ref escorts at games, and for legislation holding those who harass sports officials accountable.
"You have to realize that in the long run, most of us aren't going to have kids that are playing in the NHL," said Mike McKay of Walpole. "For most kids, the ceiling is probably going to be a high school hockey player, so my advice is to just enjoy the ride … It's not life and death."
