A trailblazing female hockey referee is encouraging women and girls in the province to ask for the level of hockey they wish to officiate.

It was a historical night for the St. John’s Junior Hockey League as Clare Howie of Paradise became the first female to referee a league game, calling the Southern Shore-Mount Pearl tilt.

Howie joins Leah Rideout as the only women to officiate in the league this season. Rideout was a linesperson for a game between the CBR Renegades and St. John’s Caps on November 19.

The 21-year-old Howie says she’s honoured to be the first, but wasn’t expecting all the attention. She’s hoping to inspire other female referees to aim for what they want.

She says to ask for the level of hockey you think you deserve. She says officiating is a male-dominated field, but she wants to show that women can do it too.

HISTORY.

Clare Howie becomes the first woman to referee in the St. John’s Junior Hockey League.

This is the highest level that a female has refereed in Hockey NL.

Congratulations, Clare! pic.twitter.com/1bu7P8ebjT

— St. John's Junior Hockey League (@sjjuniorhockey) November 20, 2022