A new hockey season is around the corner and for Hockey Edmonton it’s also about a fresh start.
“And this one is unlike any other,” said Kylee Quinn, the head of marketing and communications at Hockey Edmonton.
As Hockey Canada remains under fire for the way it handled allegations of sexual assault by former players, locally, there’s a promise for accountability and transparency.
“Silence is a big reason why us as an entire nation are here in the first place,” Quinn said.
“Hockey Edmonton acknowledges that the hockey culture at large, mistakes have been made and in order to change we have to address the uncomfortable issues.”
The organization takes direction from Hockey Alberta but Quinn said it has yet to receive any communications regarding the action plan released by Hockey Canada on July 22.
“While we wait for direction from both of the governing bodies, we reached out to experts for consultation to help implement change at a local level,” said Quinn.
She said Hockey Edmonton has reached out to academics and organizations like the Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton to help create its own local plan.
“Because we firmly believe that everyone involved in the sport has to have the tools to identify what harmful behaviour is, have an avenue to challenge the dangerous beliefs and actions, and also have the skills to intervene and prevent abuse.” Quinn said.
Tim Skuce played hockey, now he studies the games culture as a professor at Brandon University.
He told CTV News Edmonton change is something everyone needs to be involved in.
“As a parent and as a community at large, hopefully, that we can engage our young boys in these conversations about what it might be to behave in ways that you think are admirable, the character that you want to cultivate in our children,” Skuce said.
He said for many players, this hockey culture and behaviours are “deeply situated” and to unlearn them will take time.
“I think the language that we use, the behaviours that we engage in, our conduct on the ice, these are all learned and practiced behaviours over decades,” Skuce said.
“I’m hoping that there’s a certain amount of patience and intention, intentionality that starts to really say who have we become because of our participation in the game of hockey?”
Still, Skuce is cautiously optimistic change can and will be achieved.
Hockey Edmonton doesn’t know how long it will take for its plan to be ready for action.
“This isn’t something we want to rush. This is obviously a very delicate topic, an issue that really deserves the consultation from experts,” said Quinn.
“While we personally as an organization may have ideas, what the best course of action is, we definitely want to rely on the experts in the related industries to really help guide what the next best steps are.”
With files from CTV Edmonton’s Joe Scarpelli
