Last year, a hockey coach in Vancouver named Martin Tremblay made headlines after he tripped a player on the other team during a handshake line. The incident understandably caused widespread outrage among the parents at the game, and the local police even came and took the coach down to the station. Back in November, the forty-eight year pleaded guilty to one count of assault, and yesterday, he was officially sentenced to fifteen days in jail.
You can take a look at footage of the trip below…
At the sentencing, Judge Patrick Chen took Tremblay to task for his actions, telling him pee wee sports are a place where children should be allowed to be safe and have fun, not be picked on by a coach of all people. You can read a portion of his quote below…
”The tripping of the boys was akin to a cowardly sucker punch on an unsuspecting victim.”
I’m all for learning to compete hard while playing sports as a child. I think there’s value in playing hard, having goals, learning to win and even learning to stomach a bad loss. Life is a series of ups and downs, and I don’t think the everyone-is-a-winner mentality is particularly productive. That being said, the opposite end of the spectrum isn’t healthy either. Tripping a child is obviously way over the line but so is tripping an opponent. You play as hard as you can between whistles and then win or lose, you shake the other guy’s hand and say good game. Kids should be learning that from their parents and coaches, not learning how to behave like a jackass.
