Nearly two weeks after parents of players on a Surrey minor hockey team spoke out with allegations of on-ice racism, the group is taking their concerns to senior officials saying nothing as been done.
Last Thursday, parents with the U11 team and others in the Surrey Minor Hockey Association penned a letter to Hockey Canada saying they want to see action on the issue.
“We’re all kind of getting frustrated that nothing has been communicated to us at this point. It’s been pretty long since BC Hockey said they were investigating the incident, and to this day we still have received no communication from a third party or from BC Hockey,” Justin Sayson, assistant coach with the team and a parent of a player, told Global News.
“So now I think we’re just getting up to a point where we want Hockey Canada to look into it. Create a task force where they can address some policies and see if we can effect some change.”
The allegations relate to a tournament game during Family Day weekend, when players with the Surrey team — the majority of whom are South Asian — reported their opponents used a variety of slurs including “banana,” “monkey” and the n-word.
The team’s coaches said they didn’t hear either of the latter two slurs, but withdrew the team from the game because the young players had become visibly upset.
The opposing team denies slurs were used, and maintains the incident was a misunderstanding, and that “banana” was a code word used to identify when the Surrey squad’s best player was on the ice.
“Hockey is for everyone, right, and right now our kids don’t feel like it is,” Sayson said.
BC Hockey confirmed to Global News it is currently looking into 65 reports of maltreatment. That figure includes some racially-motivated incidents, however the organization did not confirm how many.
Meanwhile a third-party investigation continues into the U11 team’s allegations, but it’s unclear how the matter is proceeding.
“We don’t have any visibility into the investigation at all,” BC Hockey CEO Cameron Hope told Global News. “We’re completely arm’s-length, we wait for them.”
Meanwhile, a family that reported allegations of racism in the Coquitlam Minor Hockey Association also continues to wait for answers from Hockey Canada.
That family, who Global News has agreed not to identify to protect them from further harassment and because a criminal investigation is underway, alleges their son — who is South Asian — was subjected to racism and bullying that escalated into an off-ice assault by an opposing team’s parent.
“He was actually assaulted and called a brown piece of s–t by this dad … We never were once even spoken to by Hockey Canada. Like for me, if you’re doing an investigation, you should be speaking to all parties involved,” the boy’s mother told Global News.
“Hockey, Canada and all these associations need to get their act together … it’s time to make a change. It’s time to make hockey for everyone, for people that look like my son.”
In a statement, Hockey Canada said third-party investigations into maltreatment reports are handled at arm’s length from the organization and its members and remain confidential while ongoing.
“Hockey Canada is committed to ensuring greater safety and inclusiveness in hockey by identifying and addressing systemic issues in and around Canada’s game,” spokesperson Esther Madziya said, adding the organization has published a report with nationwide data on incidents for the 2021-2022 season.
“Hockey Canada and its Members continue to progressively expand tracking and reporting efforts, with a view to publicly report on all instances of maltreatment, abuse and harassment by the 2023-24 season.”
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