OT: Girl forced off of Boys Hockey Team

[Daryl]

Strange,I honestly did not even know the fact that girls were allowed to play on boys ice hockey teams...amusing article.

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

Although the actions of the parent are despicable, isn't there a time when girls should play in their own league? When you get north of 12 years old it isn't right that they are hanging around the dressing room, and most if the time, they are amongst the worst players on the team and become subject to this kind of BS.

Unless the girl is the next Haley Wickenheiser, why not make it easy on yourself and play on a girls team?

I played with plenty of girls on all boys teams as I grew up. I played house my whole life(not sure if that's comparable to this A League in Ontario, but basically we had the rep tiers of A and B, and then C/House was the bottom).

Of course there were plenty of people who had struggles. Struggles skating, playing a physical brand of hockey...hell, I had my share of struggles with that second one. But one thing that the coaches never allowed was players to crap on each other, and it was especially frowned upon for parents to do so.

It was all about the team and being there for your teammates. It doesn't make a lick of difference to me(IMO) being on a team in a bottom tier league that has some players who are newer/weaker/slower whatever on it. That should absolutely not factor into the game at that level.

If it's rep, that's a different story. But that's not the case here, and Mr. Atis is a moron.

 

[macleod50]

Disgraceful is the only word that comes to mind. Figures that he's a lawyer as well.

 

[Steelhead16]

Exactly why I stopped coaching kids hockey. I just started again at the high school level and not having parents involved makes it so much nicer. It's certainly not all of them, but the 10% of negative parents far outweigh the efforts of the 90% of positive ones.
I have only been in non traditional hockey markets and only about half the parents even have the slightest clue about hockey at all and it's still bad. I can only imagine the level in a place like Toronto where every dad is an "expert". Probably along the lines of Little League Parents in the States. Been there done that as well.

 

[Jarick]

D-bag move by the lawyer dad. But it's a non-story if it was a boy and not a girl on the team. So at the end of the day I don't care.

 

[Lou is God]

Stunned that some posters are defending this scum George Atis, there is never a good reason to target a 12 year old child in the manner that he did, it's cruel and unnecessary. And he is also gutless for trying to blame the girl's grandmother.

 

[EastCoastEdmund]

The thing is: Hockey shouldn't be coed.

I'm not gonna discuss whining parents and stuff but she should just join a girls team.

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

The thing is: Hockey shouldn't be coed.

I'm not gonna discuss whining parents and stuff but she should just join a girls team.

Having played Coed hockey for a few years as an adult, I tend to agree, but not from the perspective that girls aren't good enough. They can be just vicious on the ice!

 

[adaminnj]

here is another issue that falls right in line with the girls story.

http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2877185

 

[Nbr-17]

The issue is not that it was a girl, but the fact that it was a girl is why it made it to the front page of the sports section.
The coach picks the team at tryouts and signs the players for a year. It is up to them to allocate ice time as they see fit.
It's none of any parents business. You don't like what you see, talk directly to the coach and only him. Still don't like what's happening, find another team for your kid to play on the following year. End of story.
Trust me, after this story, Mr. Atis will find it very difficult to find a team for his kid next year, as no coach will want to have to deal with that nutcase parent.
Which is also to bad for his kid, who, could just be a very nice kid (as most of them are).

 

[BenchBrawl]

Girls shouldnt play with boys , hockey is a great way to ''hang out between boys'' even at a young age.I remember my childhood moments with the guys playing organized hockey , and really there's no place for a girl in that environnement.Before they are attracted to each other , boys and girls don't really hang out together ( normally ) and if they are old enough to be attracted , well a girl can change the dynamic of the team spirit.Not good.

Also , it can be very humiliating for some boys if the girl is better than them.Too bad for her but she should play with her own gender.

 

[esdoorn]

The parent should have talked to the coach and if he didn't like the answer he should have gone to the board of directors with his concern.

If this guy is a lawyer, he should understand the proper process for dealing with a matter like this. He looks like an idiot for going behind the coach's back and organizing the parents in a effort to get the girl kicked off the team. What a *******.

Now that his name is out all over the place, good luck to him trying to win over some new clients. I wouldn't use this guy as a lawyer since he's such a ********! He's done more harm to himself than the girl in this case.

I'm wondering where is the local hockey branch were this took place and why they not moved to suspend this guy from attending games. Clearly it is a violation of some rule in the standards set by Ontario Minor Hockey.

 

[doobie604]

The issue is not that it was a girl, but the fact that it was a girl is why it made it to the front page of the sports section.
The coach picks the team at tryouts and signs the players for a year. It is up to them to allocate ice time as they see fit.
It's none of any parents business. You don't like what you see, talk directly to the coach and only him. Still don't like what's happening, find another team for your kid to play on the following year. End of story.
Trust me, after this story, Mr. Atis will find it very difficult to find a team for his kid next year, as no coach will want to have to deal with that nutcase parent.
Which is also to bad for his kid, who, could just be a very nice kid (as most of them are).

it was a letter addressed to the parents, coaches, don't think it was meant to be seen by the girl. it's a dick move by Atis, but not sure why girl's parents would put their child in a situation like that. kids at that age are pretty cruel, it will eventually trickle down from the parents even if the agenda wasn't written.

 

[esdoorn]

it was a letter addressed to the parents, coaches, don't think it was meant to be seen by the girl. it's a dick move by Atis, but not sure why girl's parents would put their child in a situation like that. kids at that age are pretty cruel, it will eventually trickle down from the parents even if the agenda wasn't written.

Still, this is not the proper process! The reason the girl saw the agenda was the fact that this idiot did not address his concerns in the appropriate manner. You go and speak to the coach first, no exception. If you don't like his/her answer then you bring the concerns before the board. Parents who organize their own meetings and set their own agenda are not following proper process and will end up like this fellow looking like an idiot and possible costing himself clients for such a stupid move that the public is now aware.

 

[Lou is God]

it was a letter addressed to the parents, coaches, don't think it was meant to be seen by the girl. it's a dick move by Atis, but not sure why girl's parents would put their child in a situation like that. kids at that age are pretty cruel, it will eventually trickle down from the parents even if the agenda wasn't written.

Except it's not the kids who are being cruel it's an adult and there is no excuse for Mr Atis behavior and no excuse to pin this on the girl's parents.

 

[esdoorn]

Except it's not the kids who are being cruel it's an adult and there is no excuse for Mr Atis behavior and no excuse to pin this on the girl's parents.

Agreed!

 

[Nbr-17]

it was a letter addressed to the parents

What makes you think that?
In the article it says it was an agenda for a parent meeting:

emerged last month at a parents’ meeting called by George Atis, who has a child on the team, but is not part of the coaching staff.

So everybody on the team would know about it and the girl's parents as well.
Also, no parent should be allowed to call a parent meeting, that's the coach's job as would be the agenda of such a parent meeting.

 

[Wease]

As a coach, I'm very disturbed that a parent would be calling any sort of agenda to try and limit the ice time of any player. To me, this isn't about her being a girl. It's about this ****** bag parent overstepping his bounds. You have a problem with the way the team is being run, you take it up with the club president, if they have one, or the coach. You surely don't address it in this manner. He should be banned from attending anymore of his son's games the rest of the season for BS like this.

 

[mooseOAK*]

In terms of her abilities the article states that the team was in the lowest division so basically no one is a star. Is this the case of a parent being so deluded that they think that their kid is being held back in some way by her being on the team?

Now some boy is going to be the worst player on the team, wonder if anything will happen to him.

 

[the_speedster]

Don't know why anyone's surprised.. People like Mr Atis aren't a new thing. Alot of people still walk around with caveman-ish thoughts.... they only keep them under control when they're around people that're open minded...

Mr Atis definately suffers from hockey-dad-itis... this combined with his belief (which apparently has been confirmed- at least to him) that "everyone around him had similar thoughts is of course what would lead him to be bold enough to do this.

Again, if the girl weren't pulling her weight and contributing I doubt the coach would reward her with ice time...But to completely embarass the poor kid by coming up with a memo style draft? good lord If I were a parent on that team I would've given him a few choice words and walked out...

again... evil thrives when good people do nothing... IF that team plays even one more game then every single parent/child/staff is complicit in mr atis's actions

 

[esdoorn]

One legitimate concern the parent had was the girl in the dressing room. Again, this should have been addressed to the coach and the local hockey board of directors. Our local hockey league requires girls in Atom divison and above to change in a separate dressing room that is provided for them.

 

[Axxion89]

So basically, this girl sucks at Defense, parent says hey the kid sucks, so lets move her to forward and take her off special teams untill she gets better or she can find another team if she doesn't like it? She moves to an all girls team and she likes it better, problem solved!

Honestly, if you wanna play with the boys, you're going to get treated like the boys. If you can't play at a level like everyone else, then expect to be told so. Just because you're a girl doesn't mean anything to me personally. Life lesson learned and she'll be a better person from it.

\rant

 

[Finnish your Czech]

Gthl single A is serious business. I should know

 

[esdoorn]

No, the issue is a parent and parent(s) dealing with a hockey issue that is the relm of the coach or the local hockey board of directors. This fellow went way over the line in the way that HE chose to deal with the concerns. Team parent meetings are called by the coach, nobody else! In fact, he should have spoken to the coach in private about the issues first and if he didn't like the answer, then express them to the board.

 

[the_speedster]

So basically, this girl sucks at Defense, parent says hey the kid sucks, so lets move her to forward and take her off special teams untill she gets better or she can find another team if she doesn't like it? She moves to an all girls team and she likes it better, problem solved!

Honestly, if you wanna play with the boys, you're going to get treated like the boys. If you can't play at a level like everyone else, then expect to be told so. Just because you're a girl doesn't mean anything to me personally. Life lesson learned and she'll be a better person from it.

\rant

bravo....

now ell me how many boys have had a meeting like that called about THEM?

And now she's gone I take it we can expect a meeting about the second worst( now first worst) player?

come on, you can't be THAT naive..

even with the "Changing" situation.. he might as well have tried the ol' "black people aren't smart enough to be coaches/quaterbacks trick...

I've coached for years, and I've had girls on my teams for years and somehow the kids have been able to handle themselves alot better than the adults.. most of the younger ones (sorry to dissappoint some) never actually get naked and hence we've had co-ed changing rooms.. once their bodies start changing its remarkeably easy to designate an extra locker room for them to change, then get back to the main one to be with their teammates (why do people act like rinks come with just TWO changing rooms in this day and age?)

I have NEVER EVER heard ONE child complain about the presence of a girl on his team (beyond the usual,.. coach she hit me too hard one... those lil girls can me mean, I tell ya )

A quick online search yields the sudden absence of mr atis' face book page and apparently people are showing their displeasure by encouraging each other to call whatever legal body supervises him in canada...

at least he'll know that not everyone has the same cave beliefs as him