Bullish on Ben Leaton

Almost immediately, the young Leaton was tested by a disruptive spectator at, of all ages, a U10 game.

“I remember it very clearly,” he says. “My first game was at the Foxboro rink. My mom was there, too, and these kids were pretty good for 10-years-old. I wasn’t quite the sharpest official at that point and I was having a little trouble, but I don’t think I was doing too badly. But there is a guy ramming the glass with a stick, banging on it. Definitely in my first and second year it was overwhelming often.”

Not terribly surprising considering how quickly into his officiating career he was on the ice with players older than he was.

“Honestly, it might’ve been in my first year, during Midget games,” says Leaton. “It definitely was weird at first. You don’t have seniority over them, but I just kind of kept my mouth shut and did my job. Tried to be as professional as possible. Honestly, most of the time it wasn’t a problem. Going out there and being the youngest, it can be a challenge.”

Clearly, none of this has changed Leaton’s mind related to his interest in and devotion to becoming an elite official. 

“I like to skate almost every day, work on my edges and stuff, and sometimes I play in men’s league just to work on the players’ side of things because I need to do that,” he says. “Sometimes I’ll skate at Babson on training ice. Usually, it’s just a bunch of coaches and kids and sometimes figure skaters, and I just try to stay out of their way.”