Previous Story
Do the right thing
With the Olympics in full swing, sportsmanship is the name of the game … as it should be at all sports events.
We don’t need to look overseas to the big guys to see examples of sportsmanship. Sometimes we need only to look in our own backyard at the little guys … in particular one guy. Peewee hockey player Matt Marotta stands alone, literally, among his team as an example of sportsmanship.
After his team lost at a tournament in Vernon last week, in overtime on a disputed goal, he was the only player on the Viking Construction Tier 1 Cougars hockey team to shake hands with the opposing Nanaimo Clippers (see letter on next page).
Even though coach Ryan Arnold called his team off the ice, in classic unsportsmanlike conduct, Marotta defied the adult supervising him and did the right thing.
That takes a tremendous amount of courage.
His actions brought tears to the eyes of many of the adults in the arena, has set off a social media frenzy, and is being praised by all … except the Prince George Minor Hockey Association and, likely, his coach and teammates.
Prince George Minor Hockey Association president Alex Hartney was quoted in the media as saying it would investigate. While it’s understandable that the association can’t just react and that it should investigate, Hartney’s comments didn’t leave the impression much would be done.
He said the association would talk to the parents who were at the game. He didn’t mention, and perhaps it was just an oversight, that they would be talking to the officials who were on the ice at the time or the Vernon tournament officials. It would certainly be prudent to talk to those people as well as the Prince George parents who were there.
Hartney also commented that coaches get heated during games and pointed to Vancouver Canucks head coach John Tortorella as an example.
There’s one problem here … this isn’t the NHL, this is minor hockey and the kids involved are 12 years old. Minor hockey coaches who think they’re in the NHL are probably the biggest problem the sport has and the association seems to think that’s an excuse for bad behavior.
It’s not. Coaches at the minor hockey level who can’t control their temper simply shouldn’t be coaching. It’s that simple.
Hartney is right that the association should investigate this incident before acting, but it would be nice if the public could have confidence in that investigation.
And if you happen to know, or see, Matt Marotta, shake his hand, tell him he did the right thing.
As someone who was at the game in a completely impartial way (my son was linesman for the game after this one), I was there to witness this.
I applaud the young man for his courage, and the opposing team as well for recognizing it.
As for the coach, just a few reminders:
1) They are 11 and 12 year old kids
2) It was a call made by the referee and the timekeeper, not by the opposing team. Don’t boycott the handshake (what sets our game apart) with them and take your frustrations out on these 12 year old kids.
3) It was a game that decided 5th and 6th place. Who cares? You are all walking away with the same hardware.
DOES ANYONE HAVE A PICTURE OF THE COURAGEOUS YOUTH SITTING ON THE BLUE LINE.
THIS SHOULD GO VIRAL…..SOMEONE MUST HAVE A PICTURE.
I have been a coach, executive and former president of minor hockey in Vernon. I have also been a volunteer at the tourney your team was involved in for 28 yrs. If that coach does not get reprimanded i.e suspended from coaching those kids for the rest of the season then PGMHA should be ashamed of themselves for not listening to what happened. He has no excuse, he has no defense. He failed to provide the environment of sportsmanship he was entrusted with when he became a certified coach. I was at the game, witnessed his conduct and witnessed the conduct of the one player who knows what sport and sportsmanship are all about. I was a fireball coach but never in 27 yrs. would I have taken my team off without shaking hands and congratulating the players and coaches of the other team on there win.
Signed;
Al Noakes
I agree that the public will never see a complete and full investigation done by PG minor Hockey Association. BC MINOR HOCKEY ASSOCIATION should be talking to the people involved. Tournament organizers and Officials. Don’t believe there will be a real investigation
” SAD “
I am a former PG resident, and my nephew was on the winning team from Nanaimo. When my nephew told me what happened after the game I was both shocked and saddened. A) We are supposed to be teaching our children about sportsmanship and fair play and unfortunately a prime teaching moment was wasted and B) There have been so many positive things to come out of Prince George over the last few years, and much more to look forward to with the 2015 games quickly approaching; I would like to remind the coach that it is not just you that you impact when you make choices like this, it reflects poorly on a wonderful city that has worked very hard to change the perception of its reputation.
DO YOU HAVE A PICTURE OF THIS YOUNG MAN SITTING ON THE BLUE LINE…? WOULD LOVE TO SEE THIS GET ATTENTION WORLD WIDE…WHAT A PICTURE….HOPE SOMEONE HAS ONE
THANKS
I have been following this story and find the behavior of this coach appalling. I really hope that the media will stay on top of this and report any updates in this matter. I hope for the sake of the Minor Hockey leagues in Canada, this is not swept under the carpet. If this is allowed without consequences to the coach, what is it telling our kids?
What a brave, intelligent young man Matt is. There is no words that express my feelings as to how proud I am that he stood his ground and was true to his own convictions! To his parents, you have raised a remarkable young man that will go places in this world. Your heart must be bursting with pride!
“Incident at minor hockey tournament leads to coaching suspension for Mountie involved in fatal shooting” - The Province - February 25, 2014.
This is an embarrassment to Prince George!
I cant stop thinking about this story…
I have seen the responses…the frustration, angry, dissappointment…
and I keep thinking about this boy, Matt.
It couldnt have been easy for him to stay out there on that ice, going
against his coach and team mates….but something inside told him it wasn’t right to leave the ice without the team handshake…There were probably others on his team that felt the same way but didn’t know what to do, so they followed their leader. And the coach, I’m sure he regrets his actions. I hope the coach and this boy have a sit down. I hope this coach tells this boy he was the MVP of that game, that he is sorry for putting him in that position and that he is very proud of him. Should this coach be fired? Is this coach worth saving? Would he be a better coach now that he has seen the affect his decision made? It makes me ask the question “What would this boy want us to do?”