Hamilton boys hockey team culture was ‘cesspool’ of bullying and sexual misconduct: adjudicator
CBC
Warning: This story details sexual misconduct and contains offensive language.
Nearly two years after complaining to Hockey Canada about bullying and sexual misconduct on a Hamilton youth hockey team, a family is relieved they don’t have to keep it secret anymore.
“The big win is we can now talk about it,” said the mother of one of the victims. “The public needs to know when maltreatment is taking place and what the sanctions are.”
The boy’s father told CBC Hamilton, “kids need to know they can’t get away with it.”
CBC Hamilton is not identifying the parents to protect their son's privacy.
In April 2024, he was a member of the under-14 AA Stoney Creek Warriors hockey team when the family complained to Hockey Canada, the sport’s governing body. They allege bullying and sexual misconduct by players, including filming teammates who were stripped by force.
A “toxic” culture took root in the team, an adjudicator found, as evidenced by a Snapchat group he deemed “a cesspool of racist and homophobic images and content, slurs, and jokes about sexual assault.”
A Hockey Canada adjudicator investigated and suspended multiple players and the head coach for a number of games in October 2024. Hockey Canada did not share the adjudicator’s decision when asked.
CBC Hamilton has seen parts of the decision which are summarized by an arbitrator who reviewed the case at the family’s request as they felt the punishments were too lenient. The family appealed decisions related to nine of 15 people included in the initial investigation.
That arbitrator, Carol Roberts, is with the Sports Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada (SDRCC) and her findings were released last month. In it, she details how the Hockey Canada investigation found "a number of players” acted in a way that amounted to psychological, physical and sexual maltreatment, bullying and harassment of other players, Roberts wrote.
It found the team had a "toxic" culture and that coaches breached dressing room policy by “failing to properly supervise the dressing rooms.”
Because they are underage, the names of the players in Roberts’ review are withheld. Dave Mercanti was the head coach and Greg Williams and Bill Whalen were the assistant coaches.
CBC Hamilton requested comment from Mercanti and Williams but did not hear back. CBC was unable to reach Whalen.
In interviews, the claimant and several witnesses told the adjudicator there was routine physical and verbal bullying and harassment and that players were regularly held down and “pantsed,” with their underwear or genitals exposed, Roberts wrote.
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