SEATTLE — Parents and coaches are speaking out after a man was caught on camera heading out onto the ice at the Kraken Community Iceplex and shoving two youth referees during a hockey match over the weekend.
According to the Seattle Fire Department, the referees were 12-year-old and 14-year-old boys.
Seattle Fire confirmed that the boys were treated on the scene just after noon on Sunday and were not taken to hospital. Seattle Police Department officers also responded to the incident and interviewed the man after the assault. According to police documents, the man was the parent of another player at the match.
The father stood roughly 6′2 tall and weighed nearly 250 pounds, which is larger than both of the youth referees combined.
Travis Moore is a Goalie Development Coordinator for the Pacific Northwest Amateur Hockey Association and also works with USA Hockey. He was taken aback by the video and incident, “Most of us all feel the same. We’re sick, we’re appalled.”
Moore admits that he wished he might have been able to intervene before the incident. The video from the Iceplex shows the father walking up to the two youth hockey referees before shoving them both and then leaving the ice.
Parent violence at youth sports events has grabbed headlines before, but Moore feels this incident is even uglier because the victims are children, “This is a cultural issue, it has nothing to do with the refereeing. Some people feel the need to intervene for their kids when less than 1% of them are going to make it to the NHL.”
While Moore says he did not know the refs personally, he’s seen them enough times at the Iceplex to know that they are working hard to enforce the rules and keep games in control. Moore has also personally faced aggression from parents before.
“It’s sad, they’re (the youth referees) great kids, they’re happy, they’re not malicious, I mean they’re 13 or 14-year-old kids that are volunteering their time on a weekend,” said Moore.
The Sunday game at the Kraken Community Iceplex was run by the Pacific Northwest Amateur Hockey Association (PNAHA). It is one of many leagues that use the Iceplex, which also serves as a practice facility for the Seattle Kraken. The President of PNAHA, Jody Carpenter, says hockey instills passion in players and parents, but the on-ice assault took things too far.
“This is an adult going after a minor, which in my book is inexcusable,” he said. Carpenter did confirm that he would be in communication with USA Hockey to see if there is any further discipline that the parent could face. Carpenter said the parent has been banned from the iceplex and is facing a ban from his own hockey association.
According to documents from SPD, officers did contact and question the father, reviewed the video, and told him that the officer would recommend charges against him for misdemeanor assault. He was released by officers.
Moore said his message to other parents is fairly simple, “Imagine showing this to your child, your grandchild, your employer, your family members, and realize at the end of the day it’s just about fun. It’s about team, it’s about the culture of sports.”