Sport’Aide general manager Sylvain Croteau would have come very close to stepping down from his role as advisor to the QMJHL a month ago given the immobility of the Quebec junior circuit.
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Croteau made the revelation today during his visit to the Assembly’s Culture and Education Committee, which is trying to get a clear view of the abuses suffered in sport, and told the Journal that his comments were not directed at former Commissioner Gilles Courteau but at the whole Organization.
“I felt a will from the QMJHL, but I needed a real will to continue,” said the independent committee member within the Player Assistance Program. I wanted concrete action to be taken soon, and I denounced the inaction of the entire circle. »
The QMJHL has confirmed that a locker room code will be released in the fall, without being able to confirm it will be ready for the start of next season.
“It’s not a magic recipe,” explained Sport’Aide’s CEO. You don’t build a house with a hammer. It is a series of actions and education that will change the culture and the participation of all stakeholders is necessary. It’s an opportunity we must seize. »
An independent body
The QMJHL has also changed its mind, entrusting future player complaints to an independent committee rather than handling them internally. “I don’t doubt the professionalism of the lady whose role it was, but you have to put yourself in the shoes of a victim for three minutes,” said Croteau, who liked the first comments made by the new commissioner Mario Cecchini when he took office in early May. The victim had to contact an employee paid by the league. He was afraid of not being believed, of reprisals. An independent committee was needed to give victims peace of mind to submit their grievances. »
No abolition
While vocally decrying abusive initiations, Croteau does not believe the abolition of initiations in the QMJHL or any other sport is desirable.
“It would be the worst mistake to abolish initiations,” he said. In an emergency situation and before the collective awakening, we would like everything to change in the blink of an eye, but that is not realistic. It’s too ingrained in the culture and we need long-term work. There is something positive about the initiations when done well and supervised. »
“It would be tempting to have zero tolerance to sue the CEO of the organization founded in 2017, but that would be a way of burying our heads in the sand and getting rid of the problem. If one opts for zero tolerance, one would fail to distinguish between the good nudges that fuel development and the murky events that are the bad. »
A player who is bullied by his teammates
Sylvain Croteau shared the trust of a 50-year-old former ice hockey player who, 36 years after the unfortunate events he witnessed, confided in the organization and received assurances that his identity would not be revealed.
His comments are included in the brief the organization submitted today to the National Assembly’s Committee on Culture and Education.
“I played several sports, but hockey was the one I excelled at and my parents invested a lot in. It has long been known and recognized that sport and violence are (unfortunately) closely linked. But the most destructive and traumatic violence is the one I’ve suffered, not from a coach or an opponent, but from my own teammates. »
The victim continues in the same way. “Finally, I now understand that this nightmarish season is one of the reasons I subsequently declined all invitations to the QMJHL team selection camps that I received. There was no question of re-experiencing that harassment, that humiliation, and that fear that had already been experienced. »
Sport’Aide has highlighted statistics from various studies showing that omerta is ingrained in the dressing room.
A national study in the United States cited in the document mentions that 80 percent of collegiate athletes in all sports have experienced abusive behavior during initiation, but the reports reach only 12 percent.
The fear of rejection and being perceived as a weak person, a partisan or a traitor explain this fact, we can read in the Sport’Aide memoirs, which specify that abuse is not the prerogative of hockey or the QMJHL, but everyone Sports.
“It’s only after they step out of their sporting environment that athletes realize what they’ve been through, the impact it’s had on them, and that some will then find the strength to break the silence. »
The President of the Saguenéens
Richard Létourneau also testified before the Culture and Education Committee today. The chairman of the board of QMJHL and Saguenéens went on the offensive from the start of his presentation.
“I sometimes have different perspectives than the ones the Commission has heard since it was created,” he stressed. We provide a network for the mentoring of our players who come to us at 16 with stars in their eyes and leave at 20 as an asset to society. Not everything is perfect and we are constantly changing. We have come a long way and there is still more to do. »