HARVEY BOLTON
Date of Birth: 1957-07-09Date of Induction: 2024
Travelling the roads of Northern Manitoba for over 50 years to referee countless hockey games, long-time Manitoba hockey official Harvey Bolton has a lot of mileage under him.
Following in the skate tracks of his father, a former on-ice official, Harvey Bolton first started refereeing hockey games in 1972 at the "Tom Thumb rink" in the basement of Flin Flon's Whitney Forum.
He would continue refereeing in Flin Flon, then later in Dauphin and Thompson. He would become Thompson's referee-in-chief in 1977 and in the 1980s, the Referee-in-Chief of the Norman Regional Minor Hockey Association.
After moving back to Flin Flon in 1982, Bolton worked SJHL and MJHL games and play-offs including ANAVET Cup finals. He was also on the Hockey Manitoba Provincial Development Committee and a game supervisor.
In addition to time spent as Thompson Minor Hockey's Referee-in-Chief, Harvey has served as the Referee-in-Chief for Flin Flon Minor Hockey on three separate occasions.
Participating and organizing top-level referee clinics and International events, Bolton was an officiating supervisor for the 2001 National Junior A Championship in Flin Flon and the 2002 World U-17 Hockey Challenge, held in Manitoba.
In 2023, Harvey was honoured by Hockey Manitoba with the Frank Mckinnon Outstanding Volunteer Award. He served as Hockey Manitoba's Referee-in-Chief for five years between 1997-2002 and most recently as Norman's Regional Referee Coordinator (2017-present).
While no longer a full-time referee, Harvey Bolton continues to work tirelessly in leading training sessions and working countless games as an officiating supervisor. He takes great pride in supporting the development of young officials and recommending them for advancement and assignments to work Regional, National and International events.