As young minor hockey players across the country prepare to drop the puck on a new season, they are also being told to prepare to get used to policies Hockey Canada is bringing in, including new expectations in team dressing rooms.
The national governing body for grassroots hockey in Canada introduced new policies for this season that took effect on Sept. 12 in order to create “safe, inclusive and equitable dressing room environments that are designated team spaces for everyone.”
“The dressing room policy applies to all minor hockey teams sanctioned by Hockey Canada and its members,” a document created by the organization reads in part. “All participants have the right to utilize the dressing room or appropriate and equivalent dressing environment based on their gender identity, religious beliefs, body image concerns and/or other reasons related to their individual needs.”
The two significant new dressing room requirements that players need to be aware of are the new “minimum attire” rule and the recommended best practices for players when showering.
“To best promote inclusion and to respect the privacy of all participants on a team, Hockey Canada requires all participants to wear minimum attire at all times in a dressing room or in dressing environments where
more than one participant is present,” Hockey Canada’s policy document reads. “This means that participants should arrive at the rink wearing a base layer.”
The organization noted that a base layer could be shorts and a T-shirt, compression shorts and a shirt or a sports bra.
Hockey Canada said anyone not arriving at a rink wearing a base layer can use a private space like a washroom stall or an unused dressing room to change before joining their teammates.
The organization also said it encourages local hockey associations to work with managers at hockey facilities to find ways to accommodate players who would prefer not to get changed in a team dressing room.
Hockey Canada noted its new best practices for showering stem from the fact that some players may want or need more privacy than others, whether that’s because of their religion, chronic condition, body image or gender.
“It is recommended that when showers are not private stalls, that these be used in a manner that respects the privacy of all participants,” the organization said in a policy document. “When in open concept showers, it is encouraged that all athletes wear certain minimum attire at all times, including swimwear.
“In order to facilitate this, participants could use a private restroom stall to change out of their base layer and into their swimwear prior to using the shower. Similarly, they could dress in a private restroom stall after they have completed their shower. Coaches and/or team staff should ensure they are able to supervise the dressing room while participants are showering, following ‘rule of two’ guidelines.”
The “rule of two guidelines” requires two trained and screened adults to be present in or directly outside an open-door dressing room.
Hockey Canada said that rule is “to ensure it is free of any discrimination, harassment, bullying or other forms of maltreatment.”
Policy memo distributed to teams
On Thursday, Global News spoke with Kylee Quinn, the marketing and communications director at Hockey Edmonton, which is the governing body for U7-U18 hockey in Alberta’s capital.
She said the memo has already been sent out to all teams in Hockey Edmonton’s jurisdiction.
“We are expecting that all of our teams have had this discussion with their players, with their families and that everybody is under the same understanding in regards to this policy,” Quinn said, adding that she has yet to see any negative feedback.
“A few of the U-18 players that I have spoken with have said that while they acknowledge this policy does limit some of their own personal freedoms in regards to the dressing room space, that ultimately, if this makes some of their teammates feel more welcome in their space, then this is something that they’re absolutely going to back and be behind.”
Quinn added that for some, the policy will feel quite familiar.
“In Edmonton, we have actually had something similar to this for about the past 10 years in regards to our co-ed teams,” she said. “This new policy is more about standardizing that practice across the country and making all players feel more welcome and like hockey is a safe space for them.”
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