Coach sued for $2m after “physically beating” young player

In 2023 – almost 2024 – no one should be covering a story like this. Because it’s simply disgusting.

According to TSN investigative reporter Rick Westhead, an Ontario coach is being sued for $2 million after threatening and “physically beating” a young player.

The incident allegedly took place during a training session. The player’s father also claims to have been assaulted by the coach.

The coach also stated in front of the other parents that the father of the young man in question is a “danger to society having engaged in obscene behavior”.

According to Westhead, the local hockey association hired an “incompetent and unqualified” investigator to handle the case.

The investigator never turned over the file to the police, as he was supposed to:

A minor hockey coach in the London area is being sued for $2 million by parents who allege the coach threatened and “physically battered” their child during a practice.
Days after the child’s father filed a misconduct complaint against the coach with his child’s hockey… pic.twitter.com/xEnOmJEKSM

– Rick Westhead (@rwesthead) December 13, 2023

Unbelievable, horrible, disgusting, ridiculous, appalling, terrible…

Take any word you want to describe the situation.

It’s ironic, but the story comes at a time when Hockey Canada’s sponsors are back in the picture because the Canadian hockey federation is “making efforts” to change the culture of the sport.

Yeah right.

We don’t know the full details of the story, but if the coach is found guilty of the charges laid against him, I hope the Ontario Hockey Federation will crack down fairly and ban him from the province’s arenas.

Coaches in minor hockey are important because they sometimes play a huge role in the lives of young players. We talk about them as mentors, as good examples to follow…

But how can you expect parents to trust coaches when stories like these are circulating in Canada?