Williams, Rick

BORN FEBRUARY 23RD, 1956 in Kitchener ON Canada, he completed high school at Forest Heights Collegiate Institute and began an advertising career with the Kitchener-Waterloo Record newspaper. He arrived in Australia in 1982 to train ice hockey referees and over the years he was a Sales Executive with the Australian Financial Review newspaper, News Limited Suburban’s, then several advertising agencies. His refereeing career has included officiating at several IIHF world championships, the Swiss Pro League, and an Olympic Consolation.

Between 1974 and '76, he was the youngest Linesman in the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA), including Junior-A, Senior-A and University. He refereed Junior-A, Senior and Intermediate levels between 1977 and '82, then became a full-time Level 4 referee with the association between 1980 and 1982. He was among the top five percent of officiators in Canada at that time, and he officiated international tournaments in Detroit, St Louis and Dallas.

In 1982, he was contracted for three years to referee and teach local and national officials in Australia. Upon arrival, he was appointed NSW Referee-in-Chief and National Technical Director of Officiating. Between 1983 and '94 he was Australian Referee-in-Chief. Between 1985 and '94, he obtained IIHF Olympic and A-Pool Accreditation in Germany, became an IIHF Instructor, officiated an Olympic consolation in 1988, and three Senior Men’s World Championships. He officiated the Professional League and A-Pool International Tournaments in Switzerland, the Junior World Championship in Denmark, and three Asian Junior Championships.

In 2002, he co-founded Impart International Sports & Entertainment with David Turik, a former college ice hockey goalie with Illinois State and Sydney's Warringah Bombers. From 2004 until 2008, he was the Marketing Director of the national association culminating in the Division 2 World Championships hosted at Newcastle, NSW. He re-branded the Australian Ice Hockey Federation to Ice Hockey Australia, re-named the national team, Mighty Roos, and set-up its affiliation with the NHL. He has worked on projects with the National Hockey League for the past thirteen years and does PR for Walker Sports Management representing Nathan Walker, the first Australian to sign with the Washington Capitals of the NHL.

He won a Goodall Cup as General Manager of the AIHL Sydney Bears in 2007 and that same year introduced the Video Review Room to Australia's National Rugby League on which they based their Bunker Room launched in 2016. He has been an analyst commentator for ice hockey on Fox Sports broadcasts and Assistant Coach of Team USA in the inaugural Ice Hockey Classic in front of eighteen thousand spectators at Allphones Arena in Sydney in 2013. He still officiates the event.

Williams has recently been appointed as Local Community Marketing Officer for Hungry Jacks, a longtime supporter of ice hockey in Australia. His career as an official and promoter at the elite level of Australian ice hockey has now spanned 34 years.