The lingering stain of sports hazing

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/04/2024 (505 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The question is simple in its structure, but continues to be deeply confounding in its cultural and historical circumstance: When, oh when, will hockey finally, once and for all, figure it out?

The report earlier this month that three teenage boys were arrested in connection with alleged “hazing” incidents on a rural Manitoba high school hockey team suggests that, despite the sport’s purposeful efforts in recent years to confront and eliminate abuse, there still exists in hockey culture a deep-rooted tradition of cyclical and self-perpetuating toxic behaviour.

It has to be stopped. Those who toil at the administrative, managerial and coaching levels of hockey have openly and continually conceded as much. But as recent events have shown, there’s an as-yet unreconciled gap between acknowledgment and accomplishment.

According to reports, the three boys — all aged 17 — were members of a AA hockey team comprised of players from three high schools in three different school divisions. The hazing incidents, involving five players aged 15 and 16, are alleged to have occurred in November and January when the team was in Winnipeg to participate in weekend tournaments.

RCMP officials would not elaborate on the exact nature of the offences, but two of the individuals arrested will face charges of sexual assault with a weapon, sexual assault and forcible confinement, while the third will be charged with sexual assault and assault. A court appearance is scheduled for June 10 in Winnipeg.

Hazing rituals, which typically target younger “rookie” players who are newcomers to a team, are designed to demean and humiliate; the perversely misguided thinking is that by enduring them, those subjected to such ordeals will gain acceptance into the group and the team will be more cohesive as a result. Having survived the hazing, the newly initiated players will typically become observers and perhaps eventually instigators of future abuse.

Of course, there’s little regard in this closed-shop thinking for consideration of the longer-term consequences suffered by those subjected to the abuse.

Such attitudes are rooted in the toxic masculinity that pervades many teams — and it must be noted that hazing-related misconduct has long been commonplace in team sports other than hockey; it is simply because of its high-profile position in Canadian culture that hockey’s abuses have received the most attention.

As society has become less tolerant of the antiquated “boys will be boys” attitude that has cultivated young athletes’ sense of entitlement and invulnerability, those who previously sought to shield future stars from consequences have been forced to instead hold them accountable for their actions. In the aftermath of this month’s arrests, all three school divisions and the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association condemned the alleged abuses and reiterated that they “have been really working hard on all matters of awareness, prevention and action on safe sport in our province.”

And yet, incidents such as those leading to the arrests continue to occur, albeit these days without the endorsement of coaches or organizations and, in fact, in contravention of the direction laid out by both. So, what is it about the young athlete’s mindset that makes them think hazing rituals should continue to be imposed on newcomers to the team?

That’s the question for which coaches and administrators must find a complete and addressable answer. Much has been done to address the abuses that were for too long business as usual in hockey and other organized team sports, but we have been reminded yet again that the lessons currently being provided are not yet being fully absorbed.

Whether through education, enforcement or a combination of both, it’s time to put an end to the abuse.