Discrimination on the rise at the rink – Winnipeg Free Press

Penalties for discriminatory behavior in Manitoba’s organized hockey programs increased by more than 200 per cent last season compared to 2021-22, a new report from the sport’s national governing body shows.

Provincial hockey officials say it shows the system put in place to count abuse offenses — verbal abuse and intimidation based on race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation, among other things — is working properly, but some observers believe the report Hockey Canada for 2023-24 lacks that. meaningful data and ignores the reason the reporting process was developed.

According to a report released this week, penalties for gross misconduct — which result in an indefinite suspension pending the conclusion of a disciplinary hearing — on-ice summonses for discriminatory taunts, insults and intimidation at rinks across the province have increased by 228 per cent in two years, from 25 in 2021. 22 to 82 last season.

Manitoba ranks first in Canada for challenges by provincial and territorial federation officials for various forms of abuse, with a rate of 3.47 cases per 1,000 players, and first for non-obvious allegations, with a rate of 2.33 per 1,000.

“Anytime you make a change to a game or a new rule, there’s going to be an adjustment and learning period not only for (the players) being called, but also for the people making those calls,” said Hockey Manitoba executive director Peter Woods Free press.

“It just seems like you’re going to have an increase in those numbers that are being recorded over a period of time. If this remains the same and the numbers continue to rise, it may be cause for alarm. But I don’t think this particular stage, the three years of the program, is a problem.”

Award-winning sports journalist Laura Robinson, author Crossing the Line: Violence and Sexual Assault in Canada’s National Sportsaid it’s hard to understand what the data really means.

“I don’t think you can jump to conclusions just by looking at those numbers because I don’t think there’s enough evidence as to how they got to those numbers and what they represent,” Robinson said.

“Is this an increase in reporting? Is the growing number of reports being taken seriously? Or is it an increase in instances? We cannot tell by this. No one, including Hockey Canada and Hockey Manitoba, should come to any positive conclusions given how little information is being provided.”

Robinson said she believes the report only scratches the surface and points to a serious mistake by the federal government and the Office of the Sports Integrity Commissioner not to include the Canadian Hockey League and its three major junior leagues.

“The huge flaw in all of this is that all of this work and all of this money is not going to the first cause that started it,” Robinson said, referring to sexual assault allegations against members of Canada’s 2018 junior squad. men’s team — the players were drawn from KHL teams — and subsequent revelations that some of the minor hockey royalties sent to Hockey Canada were used to pay settlements to accusers in similar cases.

According to the report, fifteen of the 18 cases reported to OSIC could not be evaluated because the federal agency does not have the authority to do so. The other three were still pending.

Hockey Canada’s independent third-party investigators are expected to release their report next week looking into the off-ice complaints.

The vast majority of assessed penalties for violations of Hockey Canada Rule 11.4 in 2023-24 were based on sex, followed by disability and race. In 2023-24, the number of these offenses increased by 41 per cent, increasing to 2.6 incidents per 1,000, compared to 1.9 in 2022-23.

Across Canada, approximately three-quarters of these sentences are at the under-18 and under-15 levels.

“These are pretty competitive programs and you can look at the age of these kids; the U15 and U18 kids have a lot of bravado,” Woods said. “Unfortunately, there is a whole learning process here. Society has gone through some significant social changes. This behavior would not be acceptable in the workplace or at school, but it has been part of our game for too long.”

Penalties for gross violations under Rule 11.4 include suspension for a minimum of five games and may result in further additional disciplinary action.

“This year’s report is critical to our efforts to raise awareness of abuse on and off the ice,” Hockey Canada vice-president of sport integrity Natasha Johnston said in an emailed statement.

“Our comprehensive report with data from the 2023-2024 season will allow us to begin to better track trends in punishments and charges related to abuse and will serve as a guide for working with our members to improve the education of participants, parents, volunteers and other stakeholders sides”.

There has also been an increase in unprovoked allegations of verbal abuse, from 41 incidents in Manitoba in 2021-22 to 55 last season.

Robinson said there is a need to have baseline data, and to get that, much more detail must be provided under the broader umbrella of discriminatory behavior.

“In order to solve something, you have to know where you’re starting,” she said, noting that the report did not say whether the violence was more directed at men or women, or whether it was more directed at players or referees.

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Scott Billek
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Scott Billek is a general reporter for the Free press. Scott, who graduated from Red River College with a degree in Creative Communications, has more than a decade of experience covering hockey, soccer and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024. Learn more about Scott.

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