This article is intended to guide parents & guardians in their influence towards a better and safer game.

The last article in this series featured my advice and recommendation for the prevention of serious injury in our game. It was targeted at players’ actions to make the game safer. Tragically, as I was writing and preparing this article for parents and guardians, I became aware of a Junior Varsity incident in Connecticut where a player, Teddy Balkind, died after a tragic on-ice incident, a laceration, on January 6th, 2022. Thoughts and prayers to the Balkind family, friends, teammates and the hockey community in Connecticut.

This article is intended to guide parents & guardians in their influence towards a better and safer game. The goal is to build awareness of possible actions and to engage and inspire positive contributions that can be made. This is the third entry into the safety series.

• Part 1 – Coach behaviours for a safer game
• Part 2 – Player behaviours for a safer game
• Part 3 – Parent/guardian behaviours for a safer game

1. Find and support hockey programs that are physically safe and socially inclusive where athletes can learn, practice, compete and develop as people. As a parent/guardian, you are a vital partner in amateur sport. You invest your time, money and other family resources into hockey. Because of this, your decision to select holistic quality hockey programs that match your expectations in terms of safety acts to compel organizers to ensure these outcomes are offered. Ask your league administrators about player safety and expect safety as a priority. Determine if specific player safety programs are defined and regularly checked.
2. As a parent, support sport governance recommendations that are provided by sports federations, national sport organizations that match regional and local sports expectations. Avoid leagues, organizations that are non-compliant and that avoid accountability to sports governance.
3. As parents or guardians read, understand and follow established sport policy, defined safe sport procedures, guidelines and best practices. Better yet, volunteer or see how you can assist in the implementation of these procedures. Remember: you belong and contribute to the greater community of sport and therefore participate as supporters through your favourable actions.
4. As parents or guardians, support amateur coaches, skill development instructors and other sport leaders that advocate safe sports training and education. Coaches and instructors that are credentialed, trained and that continue to educate themselves are best.
5.  Promote and advocate for safe play, codes of conduct and ensure safe sport procedures are in place in the minor hockey organization, at the league level and known by team members. It is a fact that even when one team in a league is not aligned to safe sport values and practices, all participants are affected. As a parent/guardian demonstrate respect for officials, referees and game or event/facility organizers. Without these people, our highly organized sport could not happen. In addition, distracting them from their roles in safe play erodes the quality delivery of acceptable programming.
6. As parents/guardians, provide league organizers, team trainers and managers relevant and necessary health information for your player. Collection and archiving of this information allows teams to possess detailed player profiles and allows team personnel and hockey operations to prepare for all possible emergent situations specific to your athlete. This level of due diligence is a vital component of a team’s emergency planning and actions.
7. As a parent/guardian, accumulate a basic understanding of team rules, operation policy, team procedures and expectations. Endorse methods that match safe play outcomes. Act whenever possible to remove barriers to participation and reinforce all efforts to eliminate and control serious injury potentials in hockey. Inquire as to the alignment of the minor hockey organization/association, league and team to contemporary sport development and competition models. Do they match the age, stage and readiness of your son or daughter? Support appropriate training that matches competition needs and standards (organized by development/physiological age and the phase of athletic development your child is in) and monitor the signs and symptoms of over-competition and over-zealous training/play.
8. As a parent/guardian, evaluate your players’ sport/school-life balance. Discuss any of your player’s struggles with the leaders, coaches and organizers. Athlete-centred sports programs value holistic development. Things like multi-sport participation “sport sampling” in the early stages of athletic development are signs of a balanced and considerate program.
9. Seek expert advice on equipment and confirm that your player has all suitable protective equipment and that their equipment fits and protects appropriately and is free of deficit. Check over equipment at least quarterly during the season. Rapid growth and wear and tear can compromise a piece of equipment’s protective integrity. Breaks and cracks, missing buckles, snaps and straps often void the manufacturer’s recommendations and severely compromise protection. Use only suitable, certified and unmodified equipment.
10. Always follow sport injury policies. These include reporting injury, injury notifications including team, league, organization and, also appropriate medical practitioners i.e, medical return to play notes. Always follow defined and recommended procedures for removal from play, post-injury rehabilitation and use the complete return to play (RTP) without modification. RTP Guidelines follow a valid and reliable stepwise method to ensure the safe return to play of your athlete post-injury. Do not skip steps of RTP. Understanding and applying provided medical/rehabilitation advice assure a return to activities and return to daily living.
11. As parents or guardians, verify that your team’s risk management programs are in place and that emergency procedures are known. Emergency response procedures are most effective when practiced and when individuals understand the emergency response in all locations of play, practice and training. Volunteer in risk and injury management initiatives like emergency response and first aid if required.
12. As parents or guardians, respect and model positive sports parental behaviours. Programs that have positive sport values and sports organizations that recognize and build sportsmanship and ethics tend to be safer and demonstrate accountability to the game.