‘Everyone seems to think it’ll go away on its own’: Hockey parents frustrated by the sport’s toxic culture CBC radio

As Hockey Canada grapples with public controversy over how its organization has settled sexual assault claims in the past, some Canadians are questioning how anyone can trust the national governing body of hockey and are calling for action and change at all levels of the sport.

“I’m not sure women can trust an organization with a history like that anymore,” said Beatrice van Dijk, a mother of four who played hockey in Toronto Cross-country check.

“I’m not sure that parents who care about young men growing up in a non-toxic, non-highly sexualized environment of power can have confidence in an institution that made such behavior possible.”

Hockey Canada’s controversy began in May when the organization reached a settlement with a young woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted by eight Canadian Hockey League players in 2018, including members of that year’s World Junior team.

Since then, Sport Canada, a division of the Federal Department of Heritage, has frozen Hockey Canada funding. Several sponsors, including Scotiabank and Tim Hortons, have suspended or withdrawn sponsorship for the organization.

Halifax Police have also launched an investigation into allegations of sexual assault by a separate group in 2003 involving members of Canada’s 2003 World Junior team.

lack of accountability

Hockey Canada executives testifying before a House of Commons committee on Wednesday said they had paid $8.9 million in sex abuse settlements to 21 complainants from the National Equity Fund since 1989, which they say is funded by membership dues and investment is generated.

It’s an embarrassing time for a Canadian associated with ice hockey.-Beatrice van Dijk, mother of four daughters playing hockey

Van Dijk, whose husband was a professional hockey player in Germany, said it showed no steps were being taken to hold people accountable.

“It’s an embarrassing time to be a Canadian associated with hockey,” she said.

“I’m not sure why you would want to accept an invitation to attend any of Hockey Canada’s events, considering it was marred by this story.”

Van Dijk, who is 48 and now based in upstate New York, says incidents like the ones Hockey Canada is currently dealing with are not new.

“Everyone seems to think it will go away on its own and nobody wants to talk about the specifics.”

A longstanding problem

Former Canadian Hockey League goaltender Brock McGillis has firsthand experience of hockey’s toxic culture.

He played for the Windsor Spitfires and the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League from 2001 to 2002. He was in his late teens at the time and said his experiences in junior hockey locker rooms made him hate his life.

“The ramifications of being a gay man, hiding, sticking to the norms, and becoming a female hockey bro — and what that did to me, I mean, quite honestly, I went home … and tried to die from suicide,” he said Cross-country check.

McGillis, who came out as gay in November 2016, says conformity is a critical barrier holding hockey culture back.

“People dress the same…talk the same whether they are or not,” he said. “There’s no place to be anything but the norm — and when you are, you’re different.”

Because the players are predominantly white, mostly middle- to upper-class, and usually considered straight, McGillis says this creates an environment in the locker rooms where people can say and do things without being held accountable, including use of language and engaging in behaviors that do harm to women, minorities and people in the LGBTQ community.

“Then, in turn, you see thoughts and behaviors that lead to bigotry, misogyny and sexual assault.”

Be silent

Part of the blame lies with the adults in those rooms for not doing more to hold those players accountable, McGillis says, citing coaches who come from the same culture and who amplify them in their own coaching.

“And usually hockey people have hockey babies,” he said. “Parents that come from hockey culture bring their kids to hockey, so it’s a learned and normalized culture.”

Nobody wants to be the person who looks like they’re stirring the pot.-Theresa Bailey, co-founder of Canadian Hockey Moms

Theresa Bailey, a hockey parent of about 16 years and co-founder of the advice website Canadian Hockey Moms, says parents want to have these conversations but avoid speaking publicly for fear their children might face consequences.

“I think everyone wants to talk about these things, but nobody wants to get in trouble with the member associations or national associations,” she said Cross-country check.

“Nobody wants to be the person who looks like they’re stirring the pot.”

CLOCK | Proponents say hockey culture needs to change:

Hockey culture needs to change in the face of new sexual assault allegations, advocates say

Demands for Hockey Canada to be accountable — as well as calls for a change in hockey culture — are mounting after police launched an investigation into an alleged sexual assault at the 2003 World Juniors.

Bailey says she feels that people in positions of power in smaller hockey associations, which are usually volunteer-based, are not adequately equipped or trained to deal with the toxic parts of hockey culture.

“That’s tricky,” she said. “I’ve seen people really not knowing how to deal with some of the issues that are coming up, or handling them in a way that prevents people from coming forward.”

take a stand

Bailey believes the best way to eliminate the toxic atmosphere is for Hockey Canada and similar federations to encourage diversity within teams, coaching staffs and boards of directors.

“I don’t know how to do it other than bring people with different opinions in there that won’t be shut down.”

Looking ahead, van Dijk believes there is a way to improve hockey culture – and the first step is for parents to take a stand with their wallets when it comes to paying fees to local hockey associations.

“I would say, ‘I’ll pay you those fees, but only if you don’t pay the provincial hockey association anything until that provincial hockey association takes a stand on Hockey Canada,'” she said.

“Because our fees will allow for screwed up, toxic, predatory sexual behavior among young men, and we don’t want that kind of society.”

Written by Mouhamad Rachini. Produced by Abby Plener and Steve Howard.