Hockey Has a Culture Problem
After I graduated from Penn State, I had a few different types of jobs in different industries. These industries included : software, higher education, educational technology and hockey which included coaching and administrative roles. The differences in culture that I experienced between hockey and any other industry that I have worked in is like night and day. Hockey will always hold a very special place in my heart and it is a major identity of mine that I hold dear, but at the same time working, playing and coaching in hockey is responsible for a lot of the darker things I have experienced in my earlier life. I experienced things working in hockey related jobs that would not be acceptable in any other industry.
As a youth hockey player growing up, I had teammates who were raped and sexually assaulted by male players and coaches at the youth level. When I was playing D1 hockey at UConn I had a teammate who was raped by a mens hockey player and was thrown off the team for “being a distraction.” I don’t believe any actions were taken against this male player. When I was coaching, in Nebraska I was sexually harassed for two years by my boss and assaulted at a local bar by another athletic department employee. This was after he asked me to teach his grandkids how to play hockey earlier in the day. I’ve been roofied a few too many times in my life and two of these times were in hockey related settings and I know I am not the only one this has happened to.
Hockey has a culture problem whether anyone in hockey leadership wants to own it or not. I have included links to numerous articles below all related to different cultural issues in the sport of hockey. There are hundreds if not thousands of stories that go unreported in the USHL, the NA, Tier 1 & Tier 2 , High School and many Canadian Junior Hockey leagues. In my opinion, a lot of these behaviors are condoned and perpetuated by league leaders, coaches, managers and older players.
My hope is that one day sooner rather than later, a capable woman either becomes an Executive Director or President of the National Governing Body or a similar position in the NHL. Not a mean girl, but a woman who has the qualifications and leadership abilities to do what is needed to take the sport of hockey where it needs to go on an ethical and moral level but also on a performance level. You can win championships without being a dirt bag and perpetuating a culture of rape, bullying, silence, and misogyny.
I call on anyone in hockey leadership reading this to take a serious look at what they can do and their part in perpetuating this culture. I think that hockey has come a long way from where it has been but it still has a long way to go and it does start at the top. Are you practicing what you are preaching? Are your employees practicing what they are preaching or are they scheduling work trips around who they are sleeping with so that the company can foot the bill ? Is your culture truthfully inclusive or is it all for PR? Are your initiatives and policies fair for everyone or do the rules only apply to a few and benefit the ones already in power? Are your board meetings safe for women or are they getting roofied at these ? Has there ever been an instance of prostitution at a company event? Are your high level board members bullying current and former employees ?
I think that it is pretty clear that there is a culture problem.
UConn to pay $1.3M in sex assault handling lawsuit | AP News
USA Hockey president being investigated for alleged mishandling of abuse claims against coach - ESPN
Hockey Has a Sexual Assault Problem
CHL Hockey Abuse Class Action - Koskie Minsky LLP
Carson Briere receives probation for tossing wheelchair down a flight of stairs - CBS Pittsburgh
‘Uncomfortable and scared’: Abuse allegations inside the USA Hockey sled program - The Athletic
Vanbiesbrouck resigns from OHL team after racial slur | CBC Sports
Skating on thin ice : professional hockey, rape culture, & violence against women (Book)
Another former Blackhawks player sues team over mishandling of sexual abuse
What a police report shows USA Hockey knew about ex-NHL player's sex assault case
Harvard women’s hockey coach Katey Stone retires amid investigation into program - The Athletic
