Do any Canadian minor hockey leagues prohibit spectators?
I can’t see minor hockey thriving without a lot of dedicated work by hockey parents, but the flip side of the coin is that some hockey parents are bat-shit-crazy. I realize that they often end up being banned (I’ve handled such a banning at a Hockey Canada appeal), but recently I have heard a rumor of leagues not permitting spectators. Has anyone come across this?
Is that perhaps in response tothis stellar show of adulthood and responsibility?
Holy crap, Batman! What is the matter with those people?
No, I hadn’t seen that hockey fight – thanks for the link. What got me wondering was that I had heard that rumor (of spectators not being permitted) a couple of times in the last two weeks, and coincidentally this week I am dealing with a legal matter involving hockey parents.
My hubby has coached hockey for over twenty years (from A-2 up to AAA) and the parents are horrible. Not all of them, of course, but the “bad” ones are so obnoxious.
I mentioned this in another thread, but I coach 7 and 8 year olds in soccer. This winter season, during THE FIRST GAME, one of the parents started complaining that we weren’t winning. (The league doesn’t formally keep score but everyone does unofficially.) He wanted me to bench the weaker players and play the better ones. The whining continued for several games until I made my policy clear, which is also the league policy; everyone plays the same.
I again stress that the oldest child on the team is 8, and it’s a recreational league.
My condolances in having to deal with such people.
When I lived in Calgary, I lived across the street from a park that was used for kids’ recreational soccer in the spring and early summer. My (now ex) wife and I would have after-work drinks on our verandah and watch the games.
For the most part, the kids (all of whom would be about the ages you coach, Rick,) looked like they were having a great time. They happily kicked the ball around the pitch, and if by chance one scored on the other team’s net, there were lots of high-fives and cheers from the players and parents. The coaches were great sports, and made sure all the kids lined up and shook hands (or high-fived) with each other after the game.
But some of the parents! It wasn’t so much during the game, but after, that problems occurred. We watched parents and kids returning to their cars on our street, with some parents ripping their kids about missed passes, missed goals, and score-on-own-net goals (at that age, such things happen). It was fun to watch the kids play, but it was a little dismaying to hear what parents were saying to their kids when they got into their car in front of our home. And the poor kids whose parents ripped them a new one at the car just looked defeated, no matter how much fun they had just had on the field.
Sounds like you’re doing the right thing, Rick. I don’t know what to do about parents after the game, but I can tell you that parents “off the field” can be just as bad as when they’re on the sidelines during the game.
Actually, you’d be quite good at it, given your competitive shooting background. Use tranq darts loaded with ativan rather than bullets.
True, but my competitive shooting background also included many, many, safety courses; and indeed, I was a gun safety instructor for many years at my home range.
As such, my firearms training will not allow me to “draw down” on anybody with my firearm, no matter what my loads are or how accurately placed I can put a shot. One never “draws down” on another human; one never even points a firearm at another person. Rule Number One, as my Dad taught me years ago, when he introduced me to my first rifle. His Rule stands, and has always stood, in my experience.
Let’s face it, my competitive rifle is a very expensive hole-in-paper-puncher. It’s not much good for much else.
If anybody wants to know about my competitive rifle, here it is: the Anschutz Model 1813.
I don’t typically use the butt-hook, or the under-stock handle. I just shoot. My Dad taught me how to shoot a rifle. I still own the .22 Cooey I learned on.
Later, I used Dad’s lessons and skills, and I ended up trying out for the Canadian Olympic team for the 1984 Games with my Anschutz Model 1813. I didn’t make it, but I came damn close.
Good times, and … what the hell, I can say that I came damn close to being an Olympic competitor.
'Nuff said for now.
Very cool. It would be nice to hear more.
Cool story Spoons!
I’ll tip Jim off to the sports parent discussion - he’s been a baseball coach for decades, and his team had a rule that they wouldn’t draft kids with problem parents, no matter how talented the kid (and this was a very competitive league, with kids going on from their league to college ball and even a couple of major league drafts).
That is a cool story, Spoons. Between you and trupa, Jim and I keep saying we’d like to learn how to shoot, but keep not doing it - maybe we should make this the summer of learning how to shoot guns! 
And, the Rob Ford saga continues:
Rob Ford: ‘Intoxicated’ Toronto mayor asked to leave military ball
It’s as if all the redneck spore in the province was condensed into one gelatinous mass of bubba.
Yes, but when Walker did it it *was *considered undoable in many people’s minds. Without Larry Walker, there might not have been a Joey Votto or a Justin Morneau.
I was taught to point when I was in kindergarten in Mississauga.
Incidentally, based on my careful studies of The Walking Dead, you may have to change your attitude to drawing down on people when the Zombie Apocalypse comes. Some of the humans are worse than the zombies! 
Mr. Ford seems determined to follow in the footsteps of Ralph Klein. He’ll be Premier in no time!
As to the coaching thing, my experience with young kids is very limited, but, as Cat Whisperer said, I’ve coached high school age baseball for 25 years and, typically, our team has taken a zero tolerance approach to drafting head cases. If we hear that a kid is a problem, he’s off our list. If we hear that a parent is a problem, the kid is off our list. Some other team can deal with all the drama.
Our team has also typically run a mandatory team-and-parents meeting to start the year where we introduce the coaching staff and lay out our team’s vision and approach to everything, so the parents know right up front where our emphasis lies (fair playing time, not equal; development is more important than winning since winning is a direct consequence of development). That seems to take care of some of the ruffled feathers right up front.
The league has similarly taken a dim view of misbehaviour by parents. Act out at the diamond and you’ll be asked to leave and not come back. On the other hand, with driving-age kids in the league, there are far fewer parents in the stands as the players get themselves to and from games as often as not.
Not to worry – he denies being drunk, so there’s no need to talk about it. Case closed!
What I want to know is if Chris Noth punched him in the men’s room.
If he was not drunk, does that mean he was in his normal state of behaviour when he was given the boot from the Garrison Ball for his behaviour?