Hockey Nova Scotia launches mandatory training on consent and hazing for young players

Explainer

Hockey Nova Scotia has launched a mandatory educational program for more than 2,000 under-15 players after recent hazing incidents and sexual assault charges involving young athletes.

"There’s been several incidents in hockey over the years and it’s been an area of need," said Michael Field, the executive director of Hockey Nova Scotia.

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The organization has teamed up with the Avalon Sexual Assault Centre, a local non-profit, to create the pilot project. It aims to teach 13- and 14-year-old players about how to engage in healthy team bonding exercises and how to avoid crossing the line.

"We feel there’s a need to educate players on team culture," Field said. "Some teams do a great job at it and some team sports don’t. We just want to do all we can to ensure that … team culture is being built in a healthy manner."

Field said more than 2,000 minor hockey players of all genders will participate in the mandatory program.

What prompted the new training?

The initiative emerged as families and coaches reacted to news reports last February about a hazing incident and sexual assault involving a junior hockey team in Nova Scotia.

Two under-15 minor hockey players in Colchester County, northeast of Halifax, were charged with sexual assault following the incident during a team sleepover last fall. One of the accused players changed his plea to guilty last month, while the other pleaded not guilty in May.

A number of parents and coaches sent emails expressing their concerns to Avalon. "There were enough coming through that I was like, I think we should do something here," said Kailee Wakeman, the director of operations at the centre.

Avalon hosted a webinar in February to teach parents and coaches how to discuss consent and hazing with young players. Field said his association then reached out to Avalon to see if it could develop a version of the webinar for players.

What will the training cover?

Players will participate in two educational sessions starting this month. The first will teach them about bodily autonomy, respecting boundaries and consent, while the second will teach them how to respond to situations that may cause harm to their teammates.

"So many people call that bystander intervention, but we’re going to frame it through the lens of a caring team environment," Wakeman said. "Looking out for one another rather than placing each other in harmful situations."

Wakeman said the new program aims to teach players how to recognize discrimination, harassment, pressure, hazing and coercion.

"We’re hoping … that we can help change team cultures because sports cultures can often include hazing in ways that people think it strengthens a team and there’s so much research that shows that it doesn’t," she said.

Dee Dooley, an education adviser with Dalhousie University’s sexual violence prevention program, is helping to facilitate the pilot along with varsity hockey players.

"The main message that we want folks to leave with is that we all have a role to play in creating a safe, caring culture that supports us all and that the actions that we can make, while small, make a really big difference," Dooley said.

Why target the under-15 age group?

Wakeman said educating the under-15 age group is an important place to start when trying to change behaviours that can lead to a toxic culture.

"We are hoping to reach athletes young enough that … we can start to change the narrative early," she said.

Dooley, who has researched sexual violence prevention among varsity student-athletes, said culture in sport is often passed down between generations.

"The importance of peer influence and peer leadership can’t be overstated," she said. "Culture is really created by the people within it."

She said one thing she’s taken away from working with varsity athletes is the influence peers can have on each other and how whatever culture they create together can continue to influence younger generations.

How does this fit into broader hockey culture issues?

Hazing and sexual violence have plagued hockey in Canada for decades. In 2023, a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League player filed an application for a class-action lawsuit against the league alleging he was abused during hazing rituals in the 1990s.

The year prior, Hockey Canada came under fire after it was revealed that an undisclosed settlement had been paid to a woman who alleged she was sexually assaulted by members of Canada’s 2018 World Junior hockey team. Five players were charged with sexual assault in 2024 related to the incident and were acquitted of all charges last year.

Jaqueline Moore, a research assistant with the project and a former varsity athlete, said while educating players is an important part of changing hockey’s culture, everyone needs to play a role.

"We also need coaches involved, we need administration involved, we need parents involved," she said. "It’s really going to take a community."

Field said the association is considering expanding the program to other age groups after the pilot. Avalon staff say the varsity athletes they spoke with for their research told them building good connections inside the locker room leads to success outside of it.

"What they've told us is that creating a positive team culture actually leads to winning teams," Wakeman said.

With files from The Canadian Press, Global News and CBC News