The president of the Walden Minor Hockey Association said he is going to get to the bottom of a March 1 fight that broke out between parents of opposing hockey teams at Centennial Arena.
Darren Vagnini said one parent was assaulted during an altercation that happened in the lobby of the arena following a game between two house league peewee teams.
“We're conducting an investigation to find out exactly what happened,” Vagnini said.
The parents involved in the fight were from teams from the Walden Minor Hockey Association and the Valley East Minor Hockey Association.
Valley East Minor Hockey Association President Yves Lalonde also said the incident is being investigated. He said he didn't want to speculate on what happened, and declined to comment further.
Vagnini said it's these types of parents who are ruining the sport for the children.
“Parents are taking things a little too seriously,” Vagnini said. “We set this up for recreation for the kids. I don't know what parents are expecting to get out of a minor hockey association. It's supposed to be just for recreation, to allow the kids to build bonds, but now it's becoming tumultuous to even go to the rink. It's just one thing after another.”
Vagnini has been president of the Walden hockey association for seven years. He said he's seen a handful of fights like this, either between parents or coaches, but has been dealing with a myriad of other issues, like players not wanting to play on teams with certain other players.
As for consequences, Vagnini said the association can suspend a parent from any minor hockey event, as they've done in the past, but it “takes two to tango.”
“When it becomes heated like that, it's just best to leave the arena,” he said. “Nothing good comes out of an altercation like that. When you're in an arena like that, yelling and swearing in front of the young players and their siblings, there's absolutely no need for it.”
The parent who was assaulted will likely be filing a report with Greater Sudbury Police soon, Vagnini said.
He added that he's disappointed the parents allowed their confrontation to escalate to the point that a punch was thrown.
“We put a lot of time and effort into volunteering to make this happen for the kids, and then things like this happen, and it's disappointing,” he said.
Jason Marchand, executive director of the Northern Ontario Hockey Association, said without knowing the details of the incident, it would be unfair to comment on it.
He said the NOHA is aware of it, and has been in communication with the associations involved.
“There has been correspondence since it happened,” Marchand said. “I don't have any answers as to whether it has been reported to police.
“To say there's a standard response (from the NOHA to these types of incidents) without knowing who was involved and why, would be wrong. There is no standard reaction to these incidents.”
He said the NOHA takes these types of incidents seriously.
Sudbury.com contacted Greater Sudbury Police Service to see if any complaints had been filed. Spokesperson Kaitlyn Dunn said they had not received any recent reports involving a fight at Centennial Arena.
