Correction: The change to the name took place in April. The story has been updated to reflect that fact.
The Manitoba AAA Hockey league has new names after an uproar over an old one.
The Little People of Manitoba say the term “midget” will no longer be used in AAA hockey leagues.
Now, “provincial midget” will be called “U-18 Provincial” while “U-17 City Midget” will be classified as “U-17 Prep.”
The president of Little People of Manitoba Samantha Rayburn-Trubyk said they’ve been advocating for the removal of that word.
“It’s a word that comes from the freak-show era days, where little people were put on display to be laughed at, ridiculed, mocked. The ‘M’ word also stems from a midge, which means tiny fly that spreads disease. I’m not sure if anybody would want to be referred to as that.”
Sport Manitoba said late last year they were open to changing the term.
“We need to get it right, and I think this is a fairly simple change,” said Sport Manitoba director of sport Janet McMahon.
“Language dictates culture, and we want to create a culture for diversity and inclusion. This makes sense for us.”
Both Hockey Manitoba and Hockey Winnipeg said they decided not to use the term anymore earlier this year in April.
Basketball Manitoba also banned the term from their leagues earlier this spring.
-With files from Kevin Hirschfield