It would seem that hazing is alive and well in sports despite policies in place to the contrary.
The court in the infamous Robertson High School American Football hazing case has now arraigned defendants ahead of a full trial in June / August. The five defendants are charged with multiple counts of rape, attempted rape and kidnapping after trying to rape six younger teammates with a broomstick at a pre-season training camp. They have all pleaded not guilty. Although the state has not decided whether to press criminal charges against the football coaching staff, they have all resigned from their posts.
The criminal charges against the players themselves are in stark contrast to another high-profile hazing incident involving the Downie-Aliu rookie initiation and subsequent fight. Although each of the players involved were suspended and the Windsor Spitfires hit with a $35,000 fine, it was actually Moe Mantha (the Windsor Spitfires general manager & head coach) who was hit the hardest (40 suspended games as coach, the entire season as GM) because he accepted that the buck ultimately stopped with him.
The problem is, what actually counts as hazing? If you read the research from Alfred University, they suggest that it can be defined as, “Any activity expected of someone joining the group that humiliates, degrades, abuses or endangers, regardless of the person’s willingness to participate. This does not include activities such as rookies carrying the balls, team parties with community games, or going out with your teammates, unless an atmosphere of humiliation, abuse or danger arises.”
It would seem that a consensus is slowly emerging regarding fighting in Ice Hockey. Paul Kelly (Executive Director of the National Hockey League Players’ Association) has now added his voice to the debate, saying that he did not believe that all fighting should be banned, however:
“Hypothetically,” Kelly said, “should we consider some kind of rule about helmets, that you need to keep them on during fights and do we instruct our officials that when a helmet comes off, that they should step in and stop the fight? That’s one of the things we should look at.”
Kelly said the other aspect of fighting that needs to be reviewed is “the fights that appear to be the most dangerous in our sport, the ones engaged in by the super-heavyweights, the 6-foot-7, 250-plus-pound players who frankly, just on the basis of sheer size and strength, have the ability to deliver really damaging blows. My view has always been, if the fight arises out of the emotion and spontaneity of the game, if you’re rising to the defence of a teammate or yourself as a result of a perceived dirty hit, then that’s all a natural part of the game,” he said.
“On the other hand, if it’s a staged fight — one of those events, just the two heavyweights, not precipitated by some hockey play and in some instances, prearranged [sometimes by text message before the game], if they just decide to drop the gloves prior to a faceoff or a certain designated point in the period — those are fights that we ought to take a serious look at and consider whether there’s some way to reduce or potentially to eliminate those.”
Three Habs players (Andrei & Sergei Kostitsyn and Roman Hamrlik) were alleged to be friendly with 38-year-old Pasquale Mangiola, (an underworld figure accused of conspiracy, cocaine and weapons charges) who was arrested in a police sweep on Feb 12th. None of the players are accused of any wrongdoing, simply poor choice of companions
With all these WADA drug testing rules where athlete’s have to declare where they will be at a certain time, and now teams telling them who they can and cant be friends with, isn’t this a bit like being at school? Next thing you know, the next big scandal will be athlete fails to tidy his bedroom shocker!!!!
Rick Vaive (former captain for the Toronto Maple Leafs) believes that new rules are needed to curb fighting in professional ice hockey, because the fighting skills of the new generation of players, coupled with their size and strength have made the sport much more dangerous than it ever used to be. What has changed since Vaive’s time, is the fact that Canada has seen two recent tragedies in quick succession to Don Sanderson (who died earlier in January after hitting his head on the ice during a fight in Ontario) and to Garrett Klotz (who suffered a seizure and was taken to hospital after a fight in the AHL) and he hopes that the National Hockey League’s general managers make a serious attempt to examine the issue when they meet in March.
Indeed, one organisation – the Ontario Hockey Association has already made changes. From next season:
any player removing his helmet or undoing his chin strap during a fight will be given a gross misconduct penalty and an automatic one-game suspension. The player will be dealt the same penalty if he attempts to take off his opponent’s helmet.
Officials have also been instructed to be “more vigilant” in stopping fights.
The OHA will also work with helmet manufacturers and the Canadian Standards Association to determine whether the current fastening systems for helmets can be improved.
Players who drops the gloves regularly have also been targeted.
In addition to receiving an automatic game misconduct for fighting — a policy that was already in place — players who engage in three fights in a season will be given a one-game ban. A fourth fight will result in a two-game suspension, while a fifth fight will lead to a three-game ban. A sixth fighting major will result in an indefinite suspension.
Interestingly though, Dave Andrews (the AHL President) recently commented that: “Can you play without it? Obviously,” he said. “There is no way you can say fighting has to be part of hockey. There are all sorts of great hockey games that don’t have fights in them. I listened to the players in this debate and I haven’t heard any take the position we should eliminate fighting from the game, even the skilled guys.”
Mike Milbury (a commentator on popular CBC show – Hockey Night in Canada) has offended homosexuals by describing how stopping fighting in the NHL was akin to ‘pansification’.
Jeff KEay (network spokesman for the channel) has said that neither Milbury nor his fellow commentators intended to cause offence and instead argued that the colloquial use of the term has meant that the word is much more acceptable in today’s society!
This seems an argument that CBC are destined to lose. Just as Carol Thatcher got into trouble for allegedly referring to a black player as a ‘golliwog’ (see post below), so Milbury’s phrase is equally wrong. Yes, I know what he intended to say – that reducing hockey to a gentle mild-mannered non-contact sport would be wrong, and yes I know the term ‘pansy’ is in the common vernacular, but that does not make it any more acceptable. Free speech is one thing, but using this phrase, not once but repeatedly, seems rather ill-judged.
“People concussed in their youth show subtle signs of mental and physical problems even more than 30 years later, say Canadian researchers. The study, published in the journal Brain, found athletes with a history of concussion had worse physical and mental test scores. However, the researchers stressed these minor changes did not affect day-to-day life.”
Dr Louis de Beaumont, who led the study, said: “This study shows that the effects of sports concussions in early adulthood persist beyond 30 years post-concussion, and that it can cause cognitive and motor function alterations as the athletes age. Athletes should be better informed about the cumulative and persistent effects of sports concussion on mental and physical processes so they know about the risk associated with returning to their sport.”
(The small-scale study involved just 40 former athletes aged between 50 and 60, 19 of whom had a history of one or more concussions in their youth).
Andrew Scheuber from the Alzheimer’s Research Trust said: “Sportsmen and women should take extra care to avoid head trauma. Some experts believe that footballers from the 1970s and earlier, including Danny Blanchflower and Billy McPhail, may have developed dementia as a result of heading old-style heavier footballs – though this is open to debate. Much more research is needed if we are to minimise dementia risk for everyone.”
Jon Heshka has recently published a passionate commentary on Ice Hockey violence within the National Hockey League (NHL) in Canada. Definitely worth a read as it illustrates the downward spiral of excessive violence currently plaguing the sport.
19 year old Russian hockey player - Alexei Cherepanov collapsed and died at an Ice Hockey game on October 13th 2008. Newspapers report that:
“Moscow regional prosecutors said an ice arena manager and a hockey club director were negligent in the death of rising Russian star Alexei Cherepanov. Prosecutors said in a statement posted on their website Tuesday that the manager of the Moscow region arena where Cherepanov was playing failed to coordinate proper emergency medical services before the game.” Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081202.wsptcherepanov1202/EmailBNStory/GlobeSportsHockey/home
“The Continental Hockey League has now suspended five officials on Friday in connection with the death last year of rising star Alexei Cherepanov….. An autopsy showed he suffered from a chronic condition that obstructed blood flow to the heart and other organs. Avangard’s president, general manager and one of its team doctors were suspended indefinitely from positions in the league. Another Avangard doctor was suspended for two years. Vityaz’s president was also suspended.” Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090116.wsptcherepanov0116/EmailBNStory/GlobeSportsHockey/home
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About Kris
Kris is a Senior Lecturer, and Co-Director of the Centre for International Sports Law (CISL) at Staffordshire University, UK. He originally trained and competed as an elite gymnast until a shoulder injury at university forced him to retire as an active competitor. He now spends his spare time coaching Trampolining, Gymnastics, DMT, Cheerleading, Parkour and anything that involves throwing yourself through the air with various degrees of twist and rotation!
Jon is an Associate Professor, and Co-Director of the Centre for International Sports Law (CISL) at Thompson Rivers University, British Columbia. Jon worked as a climbing guide, trained and coordinated search and rescue, managed risk and sales in the United States with a European-based manufacturer of outdoor equipment and advised recreation programmes on their exposure to legal risk. His extra-curricular background is just as diverse and includes stints playing semi-pro volleyball in Brazil, researching wolves in the Canadian Rockies, climbing and leading expeditions from Alaska to Argentina, Tajikistan to the Tetons, and many points in between. He has been married to Wendy for 15 years and together they have 2 wonderful kids – Tegan (10) and Brock (8) – whom he continues to emotionally scar as their football coach!
Kris is a Senior Lecturer, and Co-Director of the Centre for International Sports Law (CISL) at Staffordshire University, UK. He originally trained and competed as an elite gymnast until a shoulder injury at university forced him to retire as an active competitor. He now spends his spare time coaching Trampolining, Gymnastics, DMT, Cheerleading, Parkour and anything that involves throwing yourself through the air with various degrees of twist and rotation!
Jon is an Associate Professor, and Co-Director of the Centre for International Sports Law (CISL) at Thompson Rivers University, British Columbia. Jon worked as a climbing guide, trained and coordinated search and rescue, managed risk and sales in the United States with a European-based manufacturer of outdoor equipment and advised recreation programmes on their exposure to legal risk. His extra-curricular background is just as diverse and includes stints playing semi-pro volleyball in Brazil, researching wolves in the Canadian Rockies, climbing and leading expeditions from Alaska to Argentina, Tajikistan to the Tetons, and many points in between. He has been married to Wendy for 15 years and together they have 2 wonderful kids – Tegan (10) and Brock (8) – whom he continues to emotionally scar as their football coach!
March 5, 2009
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