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For two decades, minor hockey coaches have been taking mandatory “Speak Out” courses to heighten awareness of bullying and harassment issues in and around their game.
Now, in a further step to be inclusive, Ontario coaches, trainers and managers have been instructed to take training programs in support of transgender players.
The recent mandate applies to the three Ontario hockey associations: Hockey Eastern Ontario (HEO), which encompasses the national capital region, the Ontario Hockey Federation and Hockey Northwestern Ontario.
The mandatory training stems from an Ontario human rights complaint filed by a transgender teenager in 2013.
The HEO website links coaches and other minor hockey staff to two online training courses that take roughly two hours to complete. The first one: Understanding discrimination based on gender identity and gender expression, and the second: a guide to dressing room policy.
“It’s all about being inclusive,” says HEO executive director Debbie Rambeau. “The feedback has been positive. A lot of people have come back saying it was a great education for them.”
Some coaches note the language of the instruction is cumbersome, even confusing. The definitions alone include: sex/assigned sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, gender diverse and transgender. Most, though, say they understand the need for inclusion. Southend midget House ‘A’ coach Rod Whitford said the topic was an “eye opener” for him, despite the fact his 19-year-old daughter has started using different pronouns with certain friends.
“My takeaway was to ensure we work together to create an environment where all feel comfortable to discuss these issues and ensure the kids understand they will be taken seriously,” Whitford said.
Transgender individuals don’t identity, either fully or in part, with the gender assigned to them at birth. Jesse Thompson, a transgender hockey player from Oshawa, filed a complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario because he felt he was “outed” by being forced to change in a separate dressing room.
In 2014, Ontario’s minor hockey branches agreed to alter dressing room policies such that all players would have access to the facilities that most appropriately suit their needs. Now those policies are spelled out in writing as part of online training that all Ontario coaches were told to complete by the start of this month. Later coach hires have been given an extra 30 days to complete the training.
Coaches are advised that a player doesn’t have to provide a reason to request specific dressing room accommodation. Players are also provided the right to be called their pronoun of choice (for example, opting for “they” rather than “he” or “she.”)
John Khouri, who coaches a Southend midget House ‘B’ team, welcomed the initiative.
“The more stuff they throw down at us, the better it is for us to deal with certain issues that come up,” Khouri said. “It’s a valid course, just like Speak Out. Education is powerful.”
In his years of coaching, Khouri said, he has not encountered a person who identifies as transgender but feels he’ll be better prepared now if the situation does arise.
The modules on the HEO website were set up by Egale Canada, a human rights advocacy group.
It’s estimated that about one of every 200 Canadians is transgender, or 0.5 per cent of the population.
Jeremy Dias, founder of the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity, said the policy is meant to be a step forward.
“I think it’s a huge step,” Dias said. “We run the only Ontario-funded LGBTQ training program in sports in the whole province, so we’re a huge fan of these new plans, and are interested in seeing where these associations take them.”
While the recent minor hockey initiative only applies to Ontario associations, Hockey Canada, the national body for amateur hockey in this country, is taking note, said Lisa Dornan, director of communications for Hockey Canada, in an email.
“At this time, a broader initiative has not been tabled for national discussion by Hockey Canada’s members,” Dornan said. “We would look to the work done in Ontario as an example of best-practices should this be tabled for national discussion.”
wscanlan@postmedia.com
twitter.com/hockeyscanner
查看原文...
Now, in a further step to be inclusive, Ontario coaches, trainers and managers have been instructed to take training programs in support of transgender players.
The recent mandate applies to the three Ontario hockey associations: Hockey Eastern Ontario (HEO), which encompasses the national capital region, the Ontario Hockey Federation and Hockey Northwestern Ontario.
The mandatory training stems from an Ontario human rights complaint filed by a transgender teenager in 2013.
The HEO website links coaches and other minor hockey staff to two online training courses that take roughly two hours to complete. The first one: Understanding discrimination based on gender identity and gender expression, and the second: a guide to dressing room policy.
“It’s all about being inclusive,” says HEO executive director Debbie Rambeau. “The feedback has been positive. A lot of people have come back saying it was a great education for them.”
Some coaches note the language of the instruction is cumbersome, even confusing. The definitions alone include: sex/assigned sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, gender diverse and transgender. Most, though, say they understand the need for inclusion. Southend midget House ‘A’ coach Rod Whitford said the topic was an “eye opener” for him, despite the fact his 19-year-old daughter has started using different pronouns with certain friends.
“My takeaway was to ensure we work together to create an environment where all feel comfortable to discuss these issues and ensure the kids understand they will be taken seriously,” Whitford said.
Transgender individuals don’t identity, either fully or in part, with the gender assigned to them at birth. Jesse Thompson, a transgender hockey player from Oshawa, filed a complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario because he felt he was “outed” by being forced to change in a separate dressing room.
In 2014, Ontario’s minor hockey branches agreed to alter dressing room policies such that all players would have access to the facilities that most appropriately suit their needs. Now those policies are spelled out in writing as part of online training that all Ontario coaches were told to complete by the start of this month. Later coach hires have been given an extra 30 days to complete the training.
Coaches are advised that a player doesn’t have to provide a reason to request specific dressing room accommodation. Players are also provided the right to be called their pronoun of choice (for example, opting for “they” rather than “he” or “she.”)
John Khouri, who coaches a Southend midget House ‘B’ team, welcomed the initiative.
“The more stuff they throw down at us, the better it is for us to deal with certain issues that come up,” Khouri said. “It’s a valid course, just like Speak Out. Education is powerful.”
In his years of coaching, Khouri said, he has not encountered a person who identifies as transgender but feels he’ll be better prepared now if the situation does arise.
The modules on the HEO website were set up by Egale Canada, a human rights advocacy group.
It’s estimated that about one of every 200 Canadians is transgender, or 0.5 per cent of the population.
Jeremy Dias, founder of the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity, said the policy is meant to be a step forward.
“I think it’s a huge step,” Dias said. “We run the only Ontario-funded LGBTQ training program in sports in the whole province, so we’re a huge fan of these new plans, and are interested in seeing where these associations take them.”
While the recent minor hockey initiative only applies to Ontario associations, Hockey Canada, the national body for amateur hockey in this country, is taking note, said Lisa Dornan, director of communications for Hockey Canada, in an email.
“At this time, a broader initiative has not been tabled for national discussion by Hockey Canada’s members,” Dornan said. “We would look to the work done in Ontario as an example of best-practices should this be tabled for national discussion.”
wscanlan@postmedia.com
twitter.com/hockeyscanner
查看原文...
