It’s this sort of stuff that makes me want to stay away from lacrosse forever. I am sure there are more than a few that would be happy with that and I am as sure there will be a few more in that category after reading this post. Here is the link to the Candace Maracle article on CBC Indigenous:
Coach given ‘travesty of game’ penalty during children’s championship lacrosse game
There is no putting aside the Whitby coach’s behaviour, he should be banned for the duration of his son’s lacrosse career. Threatening an 8-year-old is beyond unacceptable. The entire bench staff should be sanctioned and the Whitby club needs to pay a price for this incident. But…
This is not how it works in the OLA, as we know. There is a referee’s incident report to be reviewed, hearings to be held, much handwringing, and then sincere back-room apologies. Then a ruling will come down and… nothing will change. I can hear them now, we need evidence, it was an isolated incident, it’s not anyone’s fault but the coach. Etc. That’s how the rules work.
The Whitby President could have come right out and unequivocally stated that the coach was immediately suspended (which he was according to the rules for that kind of misconduct) and that the incident wasn’t just a travesty, but an abomination that dearly hurts the game of lacrosse. “Extremely disappointed” and “we do not condone” are the kinds of statements meant to manage the damage, not to develop change in the sport to safeguard 8-year-olds.
I can forgive the Whitby President – she is at the grassroots level trying to rebuild her club post-pandemic after years of decline. That U9 coach has set them back.
However, the response of the OLA – that typically calculated statement designed to say absolutely nothing that will tarnish the reputation of lacrosse – was/is the wrong way forward this time. There is no going past this, the path is blocked, and on a national scale to boot. (I won’t say anything about the LC’s statement because it is so painfully obvious.)
The OLA had/has an opportunity to make a clear, unequivocal statement about the current state of the game, what they were/are going to do to fix it, and how people with harmful antisocial behaviors cannot participate in Ontario lacrosse. Instead, we have “additional situations occurring” as if the natural balance of justice is the only issue here. It is not.
It doesn’t take too close a read of the article to hear the complaints about what makes things boil over in Ontario Minor Lacrosse. Everyone involved in Ontario is – or should be – acutely aware of those complaints:
“Karennotakies Barnes, the Six Nations’ U9 team manager, said teams from Six Nations, Akwesasne and Kahnawà:ke filed petitions and emailed complaints to OLA throughout the season about taunting, unfair referee calls and racism their players have faced.”
This is not a new thing. It is not merely Six Nations, Akwesasne, or Kahnàwa:ke trying to game the system because there is nothing for them to gain. These types of complaints have been flowing into the OLA office for years, sometimes accompanied by Human Rights of Ontario documentation. I wonder how many additional situations occurred that did not result in a complaint. Lots I bet.
Travesty: noun, a false, absurd, or distorted representation of something.
The OLA needs to acknowledge their problems, the problems with their image, the direction they need everyone involved in the game to take. They need to get serious with these problems: “Identify the most common barriers to participation in lacrosse and then look at practical solutions to overcoming them.” (OLA Strategic Plan)
“The incident left her son in tears, she said. He didn’t want to continue playing and his dad needed to stay with him in the penalty box to calm him down.”
What a shame a child needs to go through that.
The Grassroots Game 