The Vancouver Island Amateur Hockey Association is threatening to kick hockey moms and dads out of the stands after rampant abuse of both players and referees by some spectators.
VIAHA president Jim Humphrey issued the ultimatum he posted to the associationās website last Friday.
In it, Humphrey said that the āproblem of spectators abusing on-ice officials and players during minor hockey games has become such a serious issue that VIAHA Executive Committee members are considering a āSpectator Free Weekend.āā
Under such a scenario, Humphrey wrote, the ācoldā area of all Vancouver Island arenas would be restricted to players, officials, game supervisors, association staff and league officials.
āReferees would be instructed not to start games until all spectators have left the cold area and/or to stop the game should spectators access the arena during the game,ā Humphrey warned. āShould spectators refuse to comply, the referees would have the teams leave the playing surface, thus cancelling the game.ā
The association would then launch an investigation to determine which team the offending spectators are affiliated with, āand rule accordingly.ā
Humphrey said Tuesday that the association hopes it does not have to resort to taking such drastic action. He hopes that the national attention his letter has received helps get the message out to parents.
āIf thereās 100 parents in the stands watching a hockey game (and) if thereās four that are being disrespectful, weāre hoping the 96 will rise to the occasion and politely figure out a way to shut the four up,ā
āBecause if they donāt, that means that 100 of them will be watching their children play from the warm side of the glass in a hockey rink.ā
The problem of parents abusing referees and players is not new to the association, Over 20 years, the group has tried different ideas to curb abuse, āand nothing weāve ever tried over the years has worked.ā
They tried asking the home teamās association to control the crowds in the stands, but that had little success because parents donāt want to have another adult tell them what to do.
āThey feel that itās their right to chastise the performance that, in their eyes, is going on on the ice,ā
Theyāve also tried having team managers in the stands for crowd control, but managers are reluctant to get involved because they have to deal with the parents for the entire season.
Humphrey says āthis is one of the worst yearsā that the VIAHA has ever had, āand this is the first time that weāve lost more game officials than we can recruit.ā
The association needs 1,100 referees each season, and they typically lose 200 or 250 each year.
VIAHA vice president Dan Payne said this year, bad parental behaviour has āpeaked.ā
Parents are leaning over the glass during games to yell at referees, and are going so far as to corner the officials in parking lots after games.
āWeāve had referees come off the ice crying,ā
Referee supervisor Hank Aarsen says heās had parents tell him that āitās their right to yell at 13 or 14-year-old kids.ā
The VIAHA has yet to make a decision on whether to go ahead with its spectator-free weekend, Humphrey said Tuesday. But if thereās anybody other than him who doesnāt want to see it go forward, itās the players themselves.
āIf you score a goal, thereās nobody there to watch or cheer for you,ā
