Parents banned from watching sons’ hockey games for abuse of players and refs

VANCOUVER – Five parents, accused of behaving badly at hockey games, have been banned from watching their sons’ midget rep games this weekend.

The banned parents reportedly yelled abuse at players and referees during games last weekend.

The move comes after the Vancouver Island Amateur Hockey Association (VIAHA) sent out a warning last month to parents and spectators to be respectful of other players and on-ice officials.

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Jim Humphrey, president of VIAHA, says in this recent case, they had multiple reports of these incidents happening and contacted the teams to ask the offending parents to come forward. Otherwise, they were going to ban all parents.

In January Humphrey said they have already had to cancel games this year due to the loss of officials who oversee the games. “It’s unfortunate that some parents don’t seem to grasp that, even having in their views, a not a very good official is better than having no official at all, because no official means their child is out of the game.”

In the letter, Humphrey wrote the majority of parents and other fans are supportive and positive, however a minority feel they have the right to verbally abuse and harass the young people, most only a little older than the players in the games they are officiating.

“The vindictiveness is resulting in a loss of both promising young officials and senior officials alike, as well as making the game difficult for the players to have fun,” Humphrey said in the letter.