Interesting....
My young son has just started to play hockey. I haven't played myself since I was very young. It seems to me (and I'm new to it, so don't feel bad if you need to correct me) the the following is true in comparison to basketball:
The coaches of very young hockey players (my son is 6) are generally better prepared to coach than in basketball. There is a whole certification system in place where coaches have to demonstrate that they can teach the skills necessary to play at that level. If they want to coach older kids, they have to demonstrate their ability to coach the more advanced skills. There is no such process (locally, anyway) for youth basketball coaches. (That's not to say they're all inexperienced - some are very good.)
The officiating, on the other hand, seems less tightly regulated than basketball - at least in regard to officials' ages. I have seen some very young officials (particularly reffing 12 year-old games where they are VERY close in age to the players) take a lot of grief from adults. According to the following web page, you only have to be 12 years old, but the other criteria seem pretty stringent (including a rules exam and a skating test):
http://www.usahockey.com/ihoa/main/how_to_join_ih/
I'm not sure how particular the various local organizations are about making sure the refs are certified. 12 years old seems really young to have to put up with vocal adult fans.
[Edited by JoeT on Mar 7th, 2006 at 10:02 AM]