Brawls often occur at adult hockey games like this recent Coyotes game, but it’s the players who brawl, not their parents. Ten-year-old children played a clean game at the Osoyoos Desert Classic, but their parents lost control. (Richard McGuire file photo)
Two out-of-town minor hockey teams are making conflicting statements about what happened when parents got into a brawl after watching their 10-year-old children play recently at the Sun Bowl Arena.
One woman’s nose was broken and there were other minor injuries in the incident around 8 p.m. on April 2.
No Osoyoos parents or players were involved in the incident that occurred during the Desert Classic Hockey Tournament, which includes teams from across the province.
“Alcohol is believed to have played a large factor in the poor choices made by these parents,” said Osoyoos RCMP Cpl. Jason Bayda in a news release.
Both the New Western Bruins (NWB) from Surrey and the BC Interior Stars (BCIS) from the North and Central Okanagan have issued statements denying their parents were drunk or intoxicated.
Bayda, however, said a police investigation revealed that the parents were staying at a local resort and several had been consuming alcohol throughout the day and prior to the game. The resort needed to bring in extra security, he said.
No charges were laid.
The two teams also gave conflicting statements about how the injured woman was struck.
The BCIS insists the woman from the Surrey team was struck by her own husband when she tried to intervene in the altercation.
Bayda supports this version.
The Surrey team, however, offered a different version in a statement it posted to its website, but it has since been removed.
“One of the BCIS fathers purposely punched one of the NWB mothers in the face twice, resulting in a broken nose, facial fractures and a concussion,” the team said. “The woman was attempting to diffuse the tension between the man who struck her and an NWB father. After she was purposely struck twice by this man, the altercation escalated substantially and involved parents from both teams.”
Both teams said the behaviour was unacceptable and they’ve taken steps to prevent this from happening again.
They said the players and coaches were in their dressing rooms when the fight occurred.
Though coaches returned to the stands to try to get the parents under control, the children didn’t witness their parents fighting.
Mike Campol, director of operations at Spirit Ridge at Nk’Mip Resort, who is also an Osoyoos town councillor, said he was disgusted by the incident.
Campol acknowledged that most of the parents stayed at Spirit Ridge, which has partnered with the Desert Classic in recent years.
Neither the resort nor organizers of the tournament could have done anything differently, he said. In the five years of the event, there has never been an incident like this, he added.
“I don’t want this to affect the organizers of this type of tournament,” he said. “I don’t want it to become about hockey tournaments in Osoyoos, because I think it would be unfortunate for the kids if it’s stigmatized that way.”
Campol blamed the incident on a combination of factors, which created a “perfect storm.”
With the younger age group of the 10-year-old players, many of the parents were more youthful, he said. The beautiful weather probably led some parents to treat it as a holiday, he added.
“There were some really poor decisions made by parents to consume alcohol during the day, which we witnessed,” he said, adding that some parents chose to make the tournament about them rather than about their children.
“We’ve been part of this tournament for four years now and I know the organizers and I work closely with them,” said Campol. “They take all precautions to run a great competitive tournament with the interests of the kids in mind. This is a first.”
Children participating in the tournament wore wristbands at the resort so their team could be contacted if they were lost or were found doing something wrong, Campol said.
“It was suggested by one of the parents after this whole thing that we should probably put wristbands on the adults and let the kids do what they want,” he said, suggesting the parent was joking. “At some point you have to expect that adults are going to act like adults.”
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
