Every time Morley Krause heads to a Drumheller Dragons hockey game, he knows where his seat is.
In fact, it is not in the stands, but it is more of a bar stool, and in his right hand he holds a remote with a button, and he’s the first to know when the Dragons score.
For about 10 years Krause has been a volunteer with the Drumheller Dragons. His role is goal judge. He sits behind the net on the north side of the arena at each Dragons home game.
“I was asked by Barry Pozzo because he knew me from my umpiring days. They were short of people that one year, so they asked me if I would come out, and I said sure,” said Krause.
He has been there through the team’s ups and downs, keeping a close eye on the action.
“It gets you into the game and you are close to the action,” he said. “I love hockey and it is a way to get involved.”
Krause has always been involved with sports and when he first came to Drumheller, he began umpiring.
“After we moved to Drumheller, I was too busy with my job to play, so I went out to a game where a friend of mine was playing to watch and there was no umpire. So they said ‘you know the rules because you played.’ So that’s how I got started.”
That was 40 years ago and at age 79 he is still going strong. Last season he umpired more than 100 games.
He belongs to Baseball Alberta who assigns him to officiate baseball and softball games all over Southern Alberta.
“I got to know towns I never knew existed before,” he chuckles.
The position does come
with risks. He has broken both his collar bones and his arm umpiring.
“When you are behind the plate and the ball comes off the bat at 100 miles an hour you can’t get out of the way.”
He has also been involved in training new umpires, something that’s hard to come by.
“Especially after I retired I needed something to do and that is one way to keep doing things. Between golf and umpiring that pretty well kept me going,” he said.
He also volunteers with the Salvation Army and the Drumheller Community Church, serving on different committees and boards.
“I tell everybody when they come close to retirement, they better plan on doing something,” said Krause. “I have seen too many people retire, sit on their couch and inside of a year they are dead, so you got to have a plan.”
