I’ve done lots of things in life that have been ‘against better judgement’ and I think this week’s column is going to be one of them. However, I do feel it would be cowardly for such an opinionated person, such as myself, to not weigh-in with my two cents on the provincial news story that garnered headlines last week with Yorkton Maulers head coach Kevin Rawlick getting audio recorded as he tongue lashed assistant captain Josh Bear over various hockey issues.
Let’s establish from the get go that society has evolved (I am not sure I like this word, but it’s the best one I can think of) to a point where excessive swearing is not condoned. We’ve also decided that verbal abuse is every bit as harmful as physical. We’ve also decided that authority figures do not wield the power they did twenty, thirty, forty years ago. That’s not to say I agree with all of this, but society has been reshaped in this regard.
My question would be, is this what we want? I listened to the audio and I found none of it to be offensive. I suppose if you are not used to being in an environment where swearing is as common as breathing then I can understand one being taken aback. I am not. This is what I heard: I heard an extremely frustrated coach who has exhausted a lot of different tactics to get a player to buy in to his program without success. He reached the end of his rope, laid out all of his frustration at the feet of the offending player and then told him to go home for the weekend. Not degrading.
Nevertheless, Rawlick has been put on probation and must complete a course that covers prevention of abuse, bullying, and harassment, as well as using positive means of encouragement.
I wonder how any other coach handle this differently. Should this be a collaborative effort and if the player refuses to do what the coach asks, you just let it go and see if someone else will do what you want? Do you just, calmly, send him home for the weekend? It’s funny. I’ve been involved in hockey a long time. I know many very good coaches and almost all of them have been blamed for the failure of a player not reaching his potential. Very few of them are given credit for helping the player. It’s an ungrateful world. Here we have a coach using his last resort to reach a player’s untapped potential and he’s put on probation. What’s the point anymore?
I don’t blame the governing body here at all. It’s a mob mentality. If they say ‘suck it up’ to the complaining family, you will see a firestorm like never before. It’s us as a society that needs to decide when have we had enough of the politically correct. I’m sorry but sometimes you just have to toughen up. Unless you don’t want your competitive sports to be competitive then fine. Don’t even hire coaches. Let the players assemble themselves and do their own thing and maybe they can teach themselves to make the NHL. Maybe fans would rather watch a display as opposed to competition. Have at it.
The competitive sports world is changing. Quickly. In major junior hockey, the Moncton Wildcats were fined $2500 for ‘punitive training’ after their coach ordered his players to return to the ice last Thursday night after they lost a game. In hockey circles, we call it a ‘bag skate’. One former junior player told me that he recalls a ‘bag skate’ following a really lazy game and the players responded with a 12-0-and-1 record in their next thirteen games and they won a championship. Some would argue the ‘positive’ results of the ‘bag skate’ don’t make it acceptable. One thing is for certain, and that’s the fact we live in a society where there is nobody in a position of leadership to say, “If you don’t like a ‘bag skate’, you are free to go home. Playing major junior hockey is not a right. It’s a very big privilege that comes with some pain. Sometimes the pain is physical. Sometimes it’s mental. Sometimes it’s both at the same time, but almost every hockey player will tell you it’s an experience they crave to have and ones that have been fortunate enough to get there don’t have regrets.
Which brings me back to Rawlick and the fact he’s trying to prepare these 15, 16, and 17 year-olds for major junior so they already have the necessary work ethic. When those motivational tools are taken away, I don’t know what’s left for coaches like Rawlick. At some point we have to recognize the coach is the boss. In this case, Rawlick actually did more than what I’d call acceptable. He explained in, very plain fashion, why he needed this player to play out of position and he even called the junior team that may be scouting him to let them know why he’s playing out of position. This is not, necessarily, the norm. That’s a favour without being asked to do one. You are welcome.
Nice person mentions this week: Kevin Rawlick, Bob Beatty, Jamie Fiesel, Don Chesney, Dean Brockman, Mike Reagan, and a whole host of other coaches. You know who you are.
