Girls and women have made big strides in hockey in recent years with professional leagues forming as well as continued opportunities at the collegiate and high school levels, but at many games, all the officials are men.  Krissy Langley is looking to change that. 

After a successful NCAA Division I playing career, Langley pursued an on-ice officiating career. She worked at all levels of the game, from youth to the NCAA as well as professional and international levels. 

While officiating, she also served as an officiating coach working to get more women on the ice as referees. When the Women’s Hockey Association of Minnesota decided to internalize and create its own officiating organization, Langley stepped in as the referee supervisor to create the support infrastructure for the officiating community, as well as recruit, develop and coach officials throughout the year. Most recently, she helped create the Female Officiating Coordinator role for the district and state.

Langley served four seasons on the Suburban High School Association Board and for seven on the District 6 youth board, with a focus on recruiting and promoting officials. While managing a roster of more than 150 officials, she helped the board address issues with scheduling, registration, and promotion. She remains an observer for the Minnesota State High School League and helps coach officials trying to earn a spot in the girls’ state hockey tournament. 

Langley has been breaking barriers her whole life, from skating with the boys until she was 14 to playing on the inaugural girls’ hockey team at Shattuck St. Mary’s. She was one of two female officials to work NCAA Division I men’s ice hockey for the WCHA in 2016 and 2017 and was selected to travel the world to officiate the IIHF Women’s World Championships from 2007-19.

Her current position as USA Hockey's first Referee in Chief of Female Development not only continues these initiatives, but now it’s literally her job - to focus on breaking barriers in the officiating world for women to support the growing hockey community across the country.