Veteran AIHL official Steve De Witt retires after 20 seasons

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Steve De Witt has retired after 20 seasons as an AIHL official, in his final game in front of a sold-out O’Brien Icehouse on Saturday night which saw the Melbourne Ice end the Adelaide Adrenaline’s slim finals hopes.

One of the longest-serving officials in league history, the Melbourne-based referee was honoured by the Ice and Adrenaline during the first intermission at the Icehouse.

De Witt first began officiating in the AIHL in 2002 and was on the lines for the first ever Melbourne Ice AIHL game in the same year.

Over the course of 20 years, missing only two years due to COVID and one due to personal reasons, De Witt officiated over 200 AIHL games. He officiated 4 AIHL finals series including two grand finals, one AIHL All-Star game, the 2012 Trans-Tasman AIHL vs NZIHL tournament and numerous other AIHL tournaments and events such as AIHL X.



De Witt reflected on the journey which had “countless bruises from pucks, sticks, and body checks” along with a tooth being knocked out by a puck.

“I have been able to witness up front some of the great warriors of the AIHL from the Hughes Brothers, Lliam Webster, Greg Oddy, Rob Duchemin, Anthony Wilson, Andrew Petrie, Vladimir Rubes just to name a few,” De Witt said.

“I have given my all and I leave with a tank full of memories.  It’s time to pass on the whistle baton.”

“I just want to thank everyone at the AIHL and my family for my officiating journey. All the best to the future of the AIHL, the teams, the players, the officials, volunteers and the AIHL fans who continue to make this a special league within the Australia landscape.

“One final thank you to Mark Weber. Mark established the Melbourne Ice which provided the avenue of being an official for 20 AIHL seasons.”



The Ice put the Adrenaline to the sword in front of the Icehouse crowd, ending their hopes of a post-season berth and continuing their undefeated streak against Adelaide, which stretches back to 2015.

The two teams meet again at the Icehouse on Sunday afternoon to close out the 2025 regular season.