Hockey P.E.I. must step up
A matter of time before human rights complaint, lawsuit, or criminal case appears
It was an interesting year in minor hockey. Despite several years of education and awareness promotion about concussions we had a letter from a hockey mom who highlighted concerns about head contact. This was followed by an outright assault of an on-ice official at a game.
The underlying issue is the tacit endorsement of abusive behavior by players, parents, coaches, officials, and the executive. I recognize if you asked individuals from any of these groups they would agree that abusive behaviours should not be tolerated. But there is a lack of congruence between words and deeds.
So we need to acknowledge this disconnect to improve the situation. The following suggestions are offered as starting points with the goal of getting executives thinking along a different and proactive line.
Referees – Implement a complaints system. Any referee, who has multiple complaints made by a coach about not calling penalties, should be temporally suspended. This puts pressure on refs to make a call, where the current system supports avoiding making calls. Most physically aggressive abuses are a result of escalation. No penalty is called for verbal abuse, this escalates to a physical level, a slash or an extra hit in the corner, and then to more direct hits or fighting. Rarely would a fight or a purposeful hit to the head occur in the absence escalation.
Coaches – If unable to control their players through benching and whose team receives too many penalties for abusive behaviours should have points toward making provincials deducted from their team. This forces coaches to take direct steps to deal with offenders and it builds a culture within the team where players will begin to apply peerpressure to stop offenders.
r Parents – Support refs when they make a call. It is better to call too many and solve the problem of abuse than to call too few and maintain the status quo.
r Executive - Stop making excuses for why the status quo remains. Change has to be mandated top-down and supported during implementation. Partner with local anti-bullying groups and the police to get the situation under control.
In any other context (in school, in public areas, at work, etc.) having one 12-year-old call the other an “effing this or an effing that,” would result in sanctions. Having an 11-year -old punch another in the head would result in even stronger sanctions. So why are these action accepted in a sporting environment?
Hockey P.E.I. uses statistics to justify the current state of hockey by noting the number and type of penalties called in P.E.I. is similar to those called in other provinces. This assumes other jurisdictions have few issues with on-ice abuse. The experience I have leads me to believe the same issues plague other jurisdictions. So the statistics show that most places are doing an equally poor job. Perhaps a better comparison would be with penalties for fighting, and head contact in reference to soccer stats since it is often the same kids and same community groupings.
It is no longer acceptable for Hockey P.E.I. to roll out another on-line video series designed to educate. More direct action is required to change the culture of this sport. The WCB recently awarded compensation where the cause of injury was workplace bullying. It is just a matter of time before Hockey P.E.I. has to defend against a Human Rights Complaint, a lawsuit, or finds itself wrapped up in a criminal case. It is time for Hockey P.E.I. to step up, for the sake of the kids, for the sake of the sport, and for its own sake.