Officials say they support coach’s message but not language
Officials with a Yorkton midget AAA hockey team say the language its coach used in speaking to a 16-year-old player was not acceptable — even though the message was.
Kevin Rawlick, the head coach and general manager of the Yorkton RawTec Maulers, has been placed on probation for the rest of the 2017-18 Saskatchewan midget AAA league season, the team confirmed Friday, days after an audio recording was made public of an exchange between Rawlick and Josh Bear earlier this month.
In a prepared statement issued on Friday, the team’s board of directors said it had listened to the audio, and “although we do not condone the use of profanity, we support the message that was delivered by our coach.”
Rawlick “supports and is in agreement with the (probation),” the team said, adding that the coach plans on completing the Respect in Sport coach and parent program by Dec. 15. The course covers prevention of abuse, bullying and harassment, as well as using positive means of encouragement.
The board of directors is “hopeful that all parties can move forward through this process and return our focus to the game of hockey,” the statement reads, adding the team “will not be making any further comments on this matter.”
Bear, 16, played for the midget AAA Yorkton RawTec Maulers until recently. On Nov. 10, Rawlick — in a meeting Bear recorded on his phone — criticized Bear for what the coach perceived as a poor attitude.
“This is simple, Bearsie. I’m gonna lose my (expletive) nuts here because every (expletive) time I try and deal with you, you get your (expletive) mom and dad involved. This isn’t (expletive) peewee, man,” Rawlick is heard saying in the recording.
“Sometimes as a leader you just gotta do (expletive). You were a (expletive) distraction today in practice, pouting and whining.”
At the end of the exchange, Bear was told he was being suspended and sent home for the weekend. On Friday, the Maulers said that “due to disciplinary issues, Josh Bear has been issued his uncontested release.”