Moron (9 page)
Authors: Todd Millar
Chapter Seven
W
e need to make a few serious changes in minor hockey. One of the places that most needs change is the “elite system.” Our best athletes and their parents are being disrespected and bullied at the highest level, and we have to start moving in the right direction.
You have 13,500 kids playing the game of hockey inside of the city limits of Calgary, and that story is multiplied times every association across North America. We have basically two types of players: the community player and the more skilled player, who ends up trying out for the “elite system.” Elite players are grouped into teams all across Canada. These teams then play around the province. They travel in buses, and they get preferential treatment; they are the cream of the crop. These kids are handpicked through a try-out process in Calgary, ending up at one of 28 elite teams in two different categories, Bantam and Midget.
In fairness, one could argue, “Why do you do that kind of tiering?” The answer is, we are always trying to create an environment where all kids feel like they can go out and participate equally, and that’s the reason behind the tiering. Imagine joining a coed volleyball team. You wouldn’t want to go out with a bunch of guys who were ex-Olympians, right? You’d want to go with guys who were of similar skill set to yourself.
The elite system in minor hockey is very “elitist.” You basically see the opportunity for young players to participate at a highly competitive level on a province-wide basis. They get to travel around. They get to have the experience of an upper echelon athlete with arguably the best coaches in the system for developing the players. They have trainers around them, and they get all the gear, traveling around in this elite structure. The advantages and the experience that a child can gain can be wonderful: a time they will never forget. However, other children may want to forget.
It is very difficult to make the team. It’s kind of cruel if you think about it. I’ve seen this one hundred times over with kids that try out. Anybody can go and try out for the team, but they go through a process of four ice times and they break you down into different teams and you have a little exhibition play and the coaches are all gathered around the arenas and watching all the kids play. It is a process of elimination. Every night, you find out whether your name stays on the list and whether you’re still being considered as one of the elite athletes. One wonderful day, you discover that your name is on the particular team.
When my son, T.J., was a lower level Peewee player, he said to me, “Dad, I want to one day become an elite hockey player.”
I thought to myself at that time,
Boy that’s a stretch
. But of course, I didn’t want to burst his bubble or be the dream crasher, right? I thought,
Boy, you’re going to have to work pretty hard at that
. And you know? To his credit, he did.
T.J. worked hard. He went to lots of training camps, was very attentive to the coaches, and really worked hard on his development. Obviously, one day he finally made the cut and he was on the Minor Midget AAA team. It was a great achievement for him. So, I know what it’s like to be a proud parent of a kid in elite hockey. From that perspective, and having seen the entire thing from the top down as President of Hockey Calgary, I saw the beauty in the elite system, but I also very clearly saw the flaws.
The biggest problem with the elite system is that it’s filled with elitists. You have a bunch of individuals (volunteers) that are operating the organization from a top down perspective, and you’ve got volunteer-based organizations that have somehow decided over time that they are above all the laws and rules. They feel like they can do whatever the heck they want. They think they don’t have to adhere to fair play policies. They’re not about developing young boys in game of hockey. They are there for all the almighty “win” – and the rules be damned.
5
They justify their behaviour with the statement, “We’re the elite – we operate under different rules.” They believe that it’s a privilege to have
our
kid on
their
hockey team, and they don’t want anyone telling them about what the rules and regulations are (not even their governing body).
While on the sidelines as a parent, I’ve seen this first hand. I’ve witnessed coaches, line after line, violating the fair play policy. I’ve watched coaches become abusive with parents, suggesting to them if they don’t quit their whining and complaining, they won’t play their children anymore.
I remember one parent coming up to me after a game, saying, “Look, my kid’s not even playing. He’s just sitting on the bench. The coach isn’t allowing my child to play! What can I do?”
I responded to him, “Well, you’ve got to go up and talk to the coach.”
He said, “Well, I can’t, because if I talk to the coach, my kid won’t be allowed to come back next year.”
Really? Okay. So what we’re telling our children is, when coaches or other adults break rules, you know what? Just suck it up and do what they say. That’s not right.
There are no paid coaches in minor hockey. They are all volunteers. However, the elite teams are coached, in some cases, by coaches who consider themselves elite as well. They are supposed to be the best coaches, but they don’t always act like it, and put all of their focus on winning, not on developing the players.
We have also had trouble with some of the elite coaches who had received honorariums. That’s against the rules, but in the elite level systems, it takes place anyway. Inside of Hockey Calgary, there are 24 smaller hockey associations with their own Boards, including four elite associations. They control their own money, and to the concern of Hockey Calgary, we were discovering that more and more of them had a positive cash flow to the point where they were making substantial profits.
We are not talking about professional status teams. These are kids that are still in the community system. The parents are still spending about $2,500 to $3,000 a year to have their child play the game, and it was becoming clear that excess cash was being accumulated by certain associations. As a member of this system, you should ask to see the financials of your local association.
What often happens is that the “worst” player on the team ends up paying $3000 a year, plus uniforms and other supplies, and he sits on the bench, because the elite coach has decided that Johnny’s not playing very well. That is not the way it should be. 19 kids are supposed to get equal development time each game.
One amazing outcome of the elite system in Hockey Canada is that certain players go on to become excellent players in the pros. Very few make it to that level, but there are a few examples. Unfortunately, all parents and coaches involved with the elite teams now cling to those rare stories, further amplifying the problem.
The problem starts at the top. The people who run the elite associations believe that they are above all of the minor hockey rules and regulations, regardless of whether they are elite teams or not. In Hockey Calgary, I have seen a great deal of evidence to support the existence of this problem, and I have also seen the problem myself.
I visited an elite hockey game about a year ago, and was made aware of the fact that a player was playing despite his suspension as a result of a hit-from-behind call made in a previous game. According to Hockey Calgary rules, that player should have missed a game as a result of that dangerous behaviour.
Nevertheless, the player continued to play in the game, and when I questioned team officials, they said they “interpreted the rule” differently than I did.
So, the coach refused to listen, and was now playing an ineligible player, which is probably the worst thing a coach could do inside of any minor sport. He had an ineligible player on the ice.
Team officials were asked several times to act on this blatant rule violation.
I told the coach, calmly, “If you take him off the ice right now, we’ll be able to close our eyes to this thing, and you will say you made a mistake, and we’ll move on.”
They fought me on this, but eventually the player was removed from the ice. From there, they still argued the point that they were exempt from that particular rule. They had their own rules.
In some cases, they also have their own side businesses, and profit from their activities with the elite teams. Certain coaches and elite executive members say to parents, “Only kids who go through a certain training program can come onto our elite team.” Parents are easily taken in by these behaviours, because they are looking out for their child’s best interest, whatever the cost.
For for the life of me, I don’t understand the logic of these elitist coaches and administrators. I don’t understand their behaviour. But that kind of behaviour is not unique to Calgary; it’s rampant throughout the entire minor hockey system.
Our kids need to not be thought of as future NHL stars, but treated like kids. All 19 players need to have equal time on the ice, and they need to be protected by the same rules that protect all kids in the community hockey system. The rules were enacted to keep our kids safe, regardless of skill or age.
I understand why parents and others are reluctant to get involved. I liken the situation to that of a bully on the street. If you see some kid get bullied across the street, do you do anything, or do you think, “it’s none of my business?”
Well, that’s just not right. When we see something bad happening, we should be getting involved. We should be stepping up and saying, “Hey, this isn’t acceptable.”
The masses can get involved, but the movement has to start with one parent, one coach, one spectator, one kid.
But when it comes down to it, there is only one way to overcome the fear and intimidation that exists inside of all of the elite associations. Something has to be done in order to save this side of minor hockey; remember, it
is
minor hockey. The solution is that the elite system needs to be taken down to its foundation, and built again from scratch.
The foundation and rules of the elite system are very sound, and Hockey Canada has a great development model in place. Unfortunately, the elite system (especially in Calgary) has an apparent and blatant disregard for those rules. And the presidents (including me) of Hockey Calgary have all wanted to change things, but were never able to enact significant measures to bring the situation under control.