The Swedish Ice Hockey Association and SDHL have launched a campaign to encourage former female players to choose a referee career when they retire as players.
Sabina Küller is highlighted as a role model.
She made over 100 national team appearances with the Women's National Team, played in both the Olympic Games and the World Championship, and won the Swedish Championship with AIK.
She has made a rapid career as a referee and last season, in her second season, she was awarded the Guldpipan as the best referee in SDHL, the women's hockey league, as voted by players and leaders.
I had an advantage in having played myself, so I didn't start from scratch. As an old player and team captain, you know roughly what you want from a referee, she says.
You want to maintain a certain standard, and getting the Guldpipan means you've made players and coaches as happy as possible.
"Super great initiative"
Küller was asked to become a referee by an acquaintance and thinks the association's effort to get old players involved is positive.
It's a super great initiative and something I pushed for early on. When I quit, there was nothing like that, and nothing was talked about. We women can't live on sports like men can at a higher level, so it often becomes so that you quit earlier than you would have wanted.
Swedish ice hockey has lost referees at the district level over the past ten years, and only two seasons ago, the trend broke, says the Swedish Ice Hockey Association's referee chief David Bergman.
Last season, the number of referees in the same category increased.
But the association also wants more referees on the women's side.
Old players have so much experience in their backpack that they can quickly reach a high level as referees, says Bergman.
Who will be hockey's Tess?
There are several successful female referees. Anna Hammar referees both as a head referee in SDHL and as a linesman in Hockey Allsvenskan on the men's side.
In football, Tess Olofsson made her debut in the men's top division in 2023 and will be promoted to a regular referee there next season.
When will we see the first female head referee in the SHL?
I have no answer to that right now, but I absolutely believe we will have it in the future, says David Bergman.
Maybe it will be Sabina Küller?
Of course, you dream of bigger tournaments, and how high you can reach in men's hockey here in Sweden. But you don't reach the big goals without taking the smaller ones first. Getting into Division 1 is the next step, she says.
