At least one woman was injured with a broken nose in a brawl among parents watching their 10-year-old children play hockey at the Sun Bowl Arena on Saturday.

Osoyoos RCMP said they responded to the incident that involved a large fight in the stands.

“Alcohol is believed to have played a large factor in the very poor choices made by these parents,” said Cpl. Jason Bayda in a news release. “It is unfortunate that these young children had to witness their parents act in such an immature way.”

The game was a match between the New Western Bruins from Langley and the B.C. Interior Stars from Vernon, Kelowna, West Kelowna, Summerland and Penticton.

Police investigation revealed that the parents were all staying at a local resort and had been consuming alcohol throughout the day and prior to the game. The resort needed to bring in extra security to deal with them, police said.

Both sides were yelling insults at one another prior to the fight breaking out, witnesses told police.

One spectator, who asked not to be identified, told the Osoyoos Times, “we need to stop the parent craziness that is going on in minor hockey.”

Another witness told the Osoyoos Times the petite mother of two whose nose was broken was punched by a much larger man.

RCMP said there were other minor injuries reported.

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Osoyoos Times

Update: The B.C. Interior Stars Hockey Club issued the following statement on Facebook Tuesday:

https://www.facebook.com/bcinteriorstars/posts/1687476568206530

BC Interior Stars Statement Regarding Incident at Osoyoos Desert Classic

On Saturday April 2nd, 2016 at approximately 8pm there was an altercation between spectators after the semi-final game between the 2006 BC Interior Stars and the 2005 New Western Bruins at the Osoyoos Desert Classic Hockey Tournament in Osoyoos, BC. The incident occurred in the stands above the dressing rooms after the game concluded while both teams’ players and coaching staff were in their respective dressing rooms.

Throughout the second and third period of the semi-final game, a small number of spectators from both teams were witnessed jawing at each other in the stands. The situation escalated to a physical level at the end of the game and involved one father from the BC Interior Stars and three fathers from the New West Bruins team. Unfortunately, the wife of one of the New West Bruins’ fathers involved in the altercation was inadvertently struck while trying to intervene in the situation. Coaches from both teams immediately intervened and diffused the situation upon hearing of the altercation. Thankfully, there were no players on the ice or in the immediate area to witness this very unfortunate incident.

The father from the BC Interior Stars team that was involved in the altercation was interviewed by RCMP at the arena shortly afterwards, along with a number of witnesses, including the rink attendant and tournament organizers who witnessed the incident and the events that led up to it. The issue is in the hands of the local authorities and the BC Interior Stars Program will continue to cooperate throughout the process.

This isolated incident could have been avoided by the spectators involved from both teams. There is no excuse for this type of behaviour in youth hockey. The BC Interior Stars program is strongly committed to taking the appropriate measures to avoid incidents such as these going forward in order to continue to provide a safe environment for players and spectators to enjoy the great game of hockey.

BC Interior Stars Hockey Club