The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
High School Hockey and Human Rights Ahh, November. In Canada, this is the time of year when one's thoughts turn, of course, to hockey. High school hockey is a big deal in many parts of the province since the formation of the Winnipeg High School hockey league more than 15 years ago. From a modest beginning, expansion across the province was swift. At present there are 32 teams in Winnipeg and excellent leagues in the southern and western parts of the province. It is anything but cheap, as the manager of one of the Winnipeg teams informed The Corner that his budget is over $25,000 per season, of which the school board and school kick in $1,000 each. The players who make the team pay the rest. Bus travel is very costly, which is why there are few contests between rural and Winnipeg schools, except in tournaments and playoffs. There are also 22 girls' teams in the city, all in one category. Just over a month ago a human rights arbitrator released her decision on the case of the Pasternak twins, a goalie/defence pair who want to play for the boys' team in West Kildonan Collegiate. It seems the girls' team there was not good enough for them. The Manitoba High School Athletic Association has a policy that if a school has a girls' team, girls cannot play for the boys' team. But the twins refused to play with the girls, made disparaging remarks about the coach and took the MHSAA to the Human Rights Commission. They were supported by the school administration and the superintendent of the board as well as the the young coaches of the boys' team. There was little support from the league. The female arbitrator ruled that the MHSAA had gender discriminated against the pair, and ordered them to pay the twins $3,500 each and look at all other sports to see whether girls are not able to try out. A strange ruling indeed, and hopefully one the MHSAA board (of which this writer was also a member for a number of years) will appeal. It is obvious to myself and many hockey people and educators that the arbitrator and the Human Rights Commission know little about high school hockey. The Winnipeg teams are categorized into three ability categories Ð A, B and C Ð and West Kildonan is firmly in the C level with no chance of winning a provincial title. Thus the girls are not playing at a high level of hockey. This represents a danger to the twins and other girls who may join the boys' teams, as it increases their chances of getting hurt. In girls' hockey there is no hitting, which is certainly not the case in the boys' league. One coach told me that the worst hitting is in the less skilled C level leagues. He even said one of the C teams tries its best to injure opposition players. Of course this is not a problem for better skilled teams who just skate around the goons. High school hockey suspends players who fight, but up to now has allowed hitting and chippy play. What will happen when one of the girl players gets severely injured? Who will they sue? Not the MHSAA or the team, but maybe the Human Rights Commission! A number of years ago, when organized girls' hockey was proposed Ð in addition to ringette Ð we at the Community Centres Board in Winnipeg turned it down. We had a medical opinion that pelvic injuries to women are dangerous and can have a detrimental effect on future childbirth. One could mention other negative implications from the twins' favourable ruling. Why could boys not try out and play on girls' teams? There are of course mixed teams, but mostly in non-contact sports. The result could really hurt the girls' teams and mean that there will be fewer girls able to play, something that the MHSAA has been trying to avoid for decades. Far from being gender discriminatory, the MHSAA has done wonders to promote girls' sports over the years. Maybe Gary Doer, whose government has appointed all of the present Human Rights Commissioners, can make some changes. And of course this ruling can be appealed to the courts and possibly overturned. Roger's Right Corner runs Wednesdays.
