The members of the Élites de Jonquière at U18-AAA level believe that their former head coach, Arnaud Dubé, should never have lost his position.
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They defended this in an open letter, of which the QMI agency received a copy on Sunday.
Last week, the investigative agency of the Journal de Montréal shed light on the reprehensible behavior of the Quebec instructor. After Arnaud Dubé made homophobic remarks towards his players and encouraged them to harm themselves, Arnaud Dubé received a slap in the face from the Integrity Protection Committee but was able to keep his job.
He finally handed in his resignation last Thursday…to the dismay of his squad, who highlighted the exemplary behavior of his ex-pilot since the intervention of the Sports Integrity Complaints Officer Program.
“Reading all the reports, publications and comments in the media world, we are torn to see the injustice involved, we can read in the letter signed by all members of the elite and their parents.
“By no means do we want to trivialize the actions that Arnaud Dubé was accused of during the 2021-2022 season, quite the opposite. Arnaud acknowledged the facts, accepted the authorities’ decision and corrected his behavior afterwards.
For what?
The signatories to the letter added that they had no understanding of why they “had to seek public judgment after a decision was made following last year’s trial.”
“At no time this season have we received similar comments from our manager as have been recently reported by the media. At no time this season have we experienced or experienced any psychological or physical violence from our coach. At no point this season did we consider being in a toxic environment because of our coach. We never wanted our coach to quit his job.
Arnaud Dubé had to undergo a simple three to five hour training session to correct his behavior after the pin. In the press release announcing his retirement, he said he had made the necessary adjustments to resume his duties. A point of view endorsed by the Jonquière elites.
“Arnaud is passionate about hockey, he devotes himself to young people, he likes to see his players and he doesn’t count his hours. We are fortunate to have a coach who is always attentive and who shares the values of respect, ethics, work and passion with young people aged 15-17.