Dear Editor;
On Nov. 26-27, the Placentia Pee Wee hockey team won the gold medal in Kelligrews, but (how they won) left parents and children disgusted, concerned after the game had ended that more than half the team felt they weren’t good enough because of how the coaches had conducted the game. Only five or six of the kids out of 15 played in the game and most of the children didn’t get a chance or hardly any time to play at all. Some were disappointed to the point that they were even crying. These kids didn’t even care that they had won a gold medal. Some actually threw their gold medals away because they were so disgusted in how the game was so unfairly coached.
When I approached one of the coaches after the game, I asked him, “What ever happened to fair play? It’s not whether they win or lose but how they play the game as a team.” His response to me was, “We are in it to win it.”
He showed absolutely no concern for the emotional distress of the children who had been eagerly waiting their turn but were skipped and left on the bench because the coaches only felt the need to put their own kids and the best players on the ice.
Last time I checked, we were all paying the same amount to have our kids play hockey.
Also, many parents who attended the game were extremely disappointed and disgusted with the lack of fairness and the behaviour shown by the coaches. They certainly did not show the behaviour you would expect from people who teach out children in out local schools. Some parents thought their children were sick and just didn’t want to play when really they were not. They were just not asked to play. Some parents have taken their concerns to the hockey executive, however, I feel that the public should be aware of what is going on in the local Pee Wee hockey league. This is also a form of bullying, as one parent said.
Should a gold win really be worth the price of children feeling worthless and not good enough? What kind of values are these coaches teaching our kids? After all, they are only 11 and 12 years old. It’s a sad thing when your child looks at you and feels so discouraged with something he loves so much, and is ready to give it up and never play hockey again because he doesn’t want to play in Placentia anymore. I will not mention any names, but someone has to speak up and let these coaches know who they are and they should be absolutely ashamed of themselves.
Concerned parent
Randy Traverse
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