| Town Supports 8-yr-old After Hockey Ban
Posted: 3/29/2007 10:34:47 PM | Town supports 8-year-old after hockey ban
Updated Thu. Mar. 29 2007 8:20 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Seven other teams have dropped out of a Quebec tournament in support of an eight-year-old boy who was banned from the tournament for being too large.
Jared Murray, grand-nephew of Ottawa Senators coach Bryan Murray, is a four-foot-nine, 110-pound Grade 3 student registered as a novice B player with the Shawville Blackhawks.
His team was 11-3-2 during the season, finishing fourth in the standings, and Murray recorded a staggering 51 goals in 17 games.
But Hockey Outaouais officials have ruled that he is ineligible to play in the regional playdown tournament because of his size and strength.
"They said that, basically, he was too strong to play with his team," Blackhawk's head coach Dan Duggan told Canada AM on Thursday. "I can't understand how they could say that the team was too strong as they finished fourth out of 20 teams."
In a show of support, the entire Shawville, Que. association has pulled its seven other teams and about 130 players from the tournament.
Even local officials say Hockey Outaouais has gone too far.
"They want the Shawville Minor Hockey Association to be participants, but they don't want them to be good enough," Mayor Albert Armstrong told CTV News.
Murray says he's disappointed he can't play in the tournament.
"I think it was dumb because all the other teams got to go and then we don't get to go because we're too strong," he told CTV News.
Duggan said reports in the media that the association was asked to move the team up to novice A are false.
On Wednesday, Murray's grand-uncle criticized the decision.
The Senators' coach said not one should be discriminated against because of their size.
"You make a choice at eight years of age to play in your hometown with your friends and you can't go to the tournament and everyone has to pull out to support you, that's pretty sad," Murray told CTV News.
With a report from CTV Ottawa
Growing up on the prairies, almost every kid I knew played hockey. It's a national pastime. We are always trying to encourage our children to be active and participate in sports. Then something like this happens and we wonder why our kids don't even want to try. I do not understand why this child was banned from the tournament. He played all season with no problems. Why is it suddenly such a problem? The boy and his team mates should be playing hockey. They worked for it and earned it. | |
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| Town Supports 8-yr-old After Hockey Ban
Posted: 3/29/2007 11:47:33 PM | Good for the other teams supporting him by dropping out!
This seems to be another example of being overly protective of our kids. If they are hurt playing a game that can cause injury, then they get hurt. If there's nothing in the tourney rules about the size of the players then the officials have no leg to stand on.
When I was younger and playing I was usually a whole head taller than the rest of my team. (Don't know why I'm so short now....) One game we were playing the city's darlings who won the nationals. I got pulled from the game because I got tired of being slashed by the other team. I started playing as I usually did. The other coach didn't like it and told my coach to pull me or their team would walk. I got pulled, wrongly in my opinion. It happened back then too.
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| Town Supports 8-yr-old After Hockey Ban
Posted: 3/30/2007 12:32:05 AM | what a joke...and you can bet this was approved and sanctioned by the omnipotent phony flippin' baloneys at Hockey Canada...what a bunch of dikkwads letting political agendas screw up this kid like this
guess they must have got tired keeping their foot on the necks of some of the renegade junior leagues trying to assemble thruout ontario and eventually the rest of Canada...
http://www.gmhl.net/
...thank gawd some of these kids parents are waking up and saying screw Hockey Canada, we're going the American college route with scholarships...first year of the newly formed "rogue" Greater Metro Junior Hockey League saw a wholle host of kids drop out of the Ontario Junior loops, forego their eligibilty to play for Canadian Junior Hockey and won't play these political games
they're off to get a paid education while they get to do what most Canadian kids love to do...play Hockey!! | |
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| Town Supports 8-yr-old After Hockey Ban
Posted: 3/30/2007 12:38:59 AM | Well...unless you've organized an amatuer sports tournament, what you have to say on the matter is rather irrelevant. Liability is a ****. In order to limit the possibility that you'll screw yourself over, you'd probably put some stupid rules in too. Until you put on a tournament yourself, and don't have any annoying rules, then why should anyone care what you have to say?
The parents will complain about this, but would also sue if their kid got hurt by some monster 8 year old.
I had a cousin 110 lbs at 8, he crushed other kids his size just by applying his weight. | |
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| Town Supports 8-yr-old After Hockey Ban
Posted: 3/30/2007 5:10:37 AM | | I might be wrong, but I don't remember ever hearing of a child being crushed to death by an 8 yr old during a hockey game before. Yes, there are liability issues, yet if there is nothing in the rules stating a size restriction, and there has not been a problem during the regular season....there shouldn't be any reason the kid couldn't play. Every parent that puts their child into hockey knows that there is some risk. It's hockey. The kids are wearing blades. Kids can have accidents. I just think they are sending the wrong message to kids. You can only participate if you meet a certain image. What happened to just playing hockey? | |
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| Town Supports 8-yr-old After Hockey Ban
Posted: 3/30/2007 6:13:46 AM | Good for his team and organization, the poor child can't help that he is that tall. My son ended up quitting hockey because he was always tall and was tired of being in the penalty box, not because he intentionally did anything wrong but because of his size, refs only saw that a much smaller kid went down, when he bumped into them, accidentely slid into them. He was 12 at the time, never went back. Its a shame.
I know at the time other parents suggested moving him up a level or two where kids his own size were playing, not fair to him since he may have been tall but he didn't have the strength of a player 14 or 15 who might have been his size.
The reason he was banned from the tournament is obvious, the hosting team wanted to win!!!
What exactly are we teaching our children? the poor child will start to think he is some sort of freak and lose all confidence...and all that over a hockey tournament? Please its not the NHL where players are getting paid. Some parents and organizations need to grow up!!
Just my 2 cents worth. | |
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| Town Supports 8-yr-old After Hockey Ban
Posted: 3/30/2007 7:25:35 AM | Contact only starts in Pee Wee, roughly 12 years old... so any contact under that age is strictly accidental...
I have no idea why they are fearing his size... like the coach said, as a team they are not dominating... they are fourth out of 20 teams... it takes more than one player to make a team win... his 51 goals have only allowed them to be in fourth place...
This decision likely comes from some old stiffs that have never played the game or some paranoid parents who have no idea what hockey is about...
Too bad for the kid, the team, and the tournament...
In my experience, tournaments have always looked to get the best players possible into them so they could help attract people, help raise money and what have you... | |
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| Town Supports 8-yr-old After Hockey Ban
Posted: 3/30/2007 12:34:36 PM | | I was reading a second article in the OttawaCitizen and it really does sound more political than anything. It almost sounds like they are just using the child as an excuse. What ever happened to teaching sportsmanship. | |
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e-wok
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Joined: 9/25/2006
Msg: 10 | |
| Town Supports 8-yr-old After Hockey Ban
Posted: 3/30/2007 6:37:24 PM | I'm sick of these small timers who wanting to make their kids look
great by eliminating the talent. Yes, your kid sucks at hockey...if we
eliminate all the Wayne Gretzky's and Todd Bertuzzi's, your kid
would still suck but maybe nobody would notice just how bad your
kid is. Isn't that right? | |
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| Town Supports 8-yr-old After Hockey Ban
Posted: 3/30/2007 8:08:57 PM | | Apparently the kid being banned isn't considered the best player on the team. It's his size that the organization has a problem with. I still think that the kids worked hard and earned the right to play in the tournament. Instead he is learning a cruel truth that if someone doesn't like you for whatever reason, they will try to eliminate you as competition because of ignorance and bias. | |
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| Town Supports 8-yr-old After Hockey Ban
Posted: 3/30/2007 8:23:49 PM | Albeit unusual for there to be discrimination of any kind in Quebec. Why; it's got to be the most forward, and unbiased province in the whole country. I assure you this must be a totally isolated incident. (grabs self by back of head and smashes head into keyboard face first...Bamm!!)
OK that was the biggest line of bullshit I've ever wrote.... You get my drift though right?
It's too bad that an 8 year old has to be the target of discrimination, but he might as well get used to it. Especially if he's English. Good for his league to boycott! Way to go. | |
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| Town Supports 8-yr-old After Hockey Ban
Posted: 3/30/2007 8:37:00 PM | Well, the kid is considerably larger, in both height and weight, than the vast majority of other 8 yr olds. At his height and weight he is more in line with 12 -13 yr olds.
I don't think it would be unreasonable to remove him from the age group he is in if they are willing to allow him to play in a league more suited to his size. After all it isn't unusual in some sports to classify competitors on this basis.
If his scoring/playing ability is a matter of his skill rather than his size then he shouldn't have much difficulty competing among kids of equal size. | |
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e-wok
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Joined: 9/25/2006
Msg: 14 | |
| Town Supports 8-yr-old After Hockey Ban
Posted: 3/31/2007 10:58:39 PM | I see one problem for this kid......if he continues with hockey, his weight & fat
will inevitably cause his performance to decline big time. Unless he's
content with always playing at the pee wee level, he's better start shedding
the fat and adding muscle. | |
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gbwest
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Joined: 2/23/2007
Msg: 15 | |
| Town Supports 8-yr-old After Hockey Ban
Posted: 4/1/2007 6:52:35 AM | This whole thing sounds poitical, which is sad that this happens even in the novice age group. Parents greed in wanting to have their kid be the next gretzky and don't want other kids showing their's up, I saw that all the time when I played hockey growing up. Maybe not to the extreme of banning a kid from playing, but little things like line combinations and playing time.
Parents need to learn to just let their kids play the great game of hockey, give it their best and above all else have fun. | |
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| Town Supports 8-yr-old After Hockey Ban
Posted: 4/1/2007 8:57:11 AM |
Until you put on a tournament yourself, and don't have any annoying rules, then why should anyone care what you have to say?
3 weeks ago, by our 7th phone call we had the insurance in place for our annual charity raiser at the rink our junior A club plays out of
...i guess 20 years in the insurance industry is worth more than just pure conjecture from a young man barely much older than the length of time i was in the industry...
i always enjoy a battle of wits...just never with an unarmed man | |
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| Town Supports 8-yr-old After Hockey Ban
Posted: 4/3/2007 11:37:07 AM |
Well...unless you've organized an amatuer sports tournament, what you have to say on the matter is rather irrelevant. Liability is a ****. In order to limit the possibility that you'll screw yourself over, you'd probably put some stupid rules in too. Until you put on a tournament yourself, and don't have any annoying rules, then why should anyone care what you have to say?
If I've read you right, you are saying that it is pointless to even attempt to make the effort because the hassles aren't worth it? I would think that if you enjoy hockey, enjoy helping kids participate, enjoy helping kids it wouldn't matter what the hassles are, it'd still be worth it. Kids should be able to play hockey regardless of the fact they don't fit someone else's image. | |
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| Town Supports 8-yr-old After Hockey Ban
Posted: 1/13/2008 7:12:17 AM | Just my opinion, but if the boy is that much bigger than the rest of his age group they should move him up to play with boys of his size. Hockey is a rough sport, therefore size of players maybe should be an issue at that young age. Besides, isn't sports supposed to be for fun and enjoyment at that age?
Watching my nephews teams' games, I have often thought that some boys on some teams are "scary" with their size (which some use moreso just for the "bully" effect). It is upsetting to see a kid slammed into the boards by a boy the size of some men! | |
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| Town Supports 8-yr-old After Hockey Ban
Posted: 1/13/2008 8:05:26 AM | this is outrageous!!how can they do this to a child..hockey is supposed to be fun...it's not professional level hockey to begin with.i think it's wonderful he has so much support..hockey divisions are divided by age not size!! i've had 3 kids in hockey...one of them was always taller then the rest and there was never an issue about that...he's 15 and 6'0 now, playing on a midget "A" team and through all of his yrs playing there has never been any restrictions with size...i have seen on occasion an older child (taller of course) be placed on a younger team because he was that inexperienced until he caught up with the others..but this is ridiculous...perhaps the other teams in the tournament felt threatened by his size and strength..the problem is there are many coaches out there living in some kind of fantasy world imagining they're playing for the stanley cup or something..they expect far too much from the kids which is a shame.
i believe in team spirit and encouragement but come on, to ban a child as young as 8 especially because of his size?..i hope this is resolved quickly for the sake of the child and a public apology made to him personally over the media!! | |
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| Town Supports 8-yr-old After Hockey Ban
Posted: 1/13/2008 8:09:44 AM | | i do agree that sometimes there are kids out there that are huge and intimidating looking to the others but there are many restrictiions on the bullying now..and i believe that the team he's on is the novice division and i'm not sure,but i don't think they are allowed to body check yet..if they are..they've just started and most kids don't do it at that age as they are not used to it yet..so agressiveness is not much of an issue at that age. | |
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| Town Supports 8-yr-old After Hockey Ban
Posted: 1/13/2008 12:15:56 PM | | I seriously believe that a sport played for recreation should be allowed for all kids, even if they are not good at the sport. Children these days are fat. They need to be on a team to work the fat off. Schools,towns whatever are taking winning to seriously.Whats important is children have fun playing and it give them much needed exercise.The large kids that cant participate in sport activities probably go home and play video games, causing them to get fatter. My son played sports growing up. I enjoyed the games even if they did not win. I knew the dangers of him playing and it did worry me. But I didnt want to stop him from being a boy or child. I am happy and support the boys who did quit the team to support their teammate. | |
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| Town Supports 8-yr-old After Hockey Ban
Posted: 3/19/2008 12:26:49 PM | Actually, I have to agree with the ban in principle.
Really, while I understand why it would upset people, this kid would be better served playing with children closer to his own size. As well, the children in his age bracket would be better served as well since his size gives him an advantage that negates a lot of their developable skills.
Mind you, I don't think he should be banned from playing if no compromise can be reached. | |
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| Town Supports 8-yr-old After Hockey Ban
Posted: 3/19/2008 12:57:54 PM | | If the Kid is large and good at the game then I think It would make better sense for him to go to a higher level and play with older kids closer to his size. | |
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