Parent appalled at hockey behavior

I am a hockey (among other sports) mom writing to you from Issaquah. We went to the new ice arena in Kent on Saturday, Jan. 31. What a terrific arena along with the shopping and dining options nearby. We are new to this area and enjoyed an opportunity to venture. Our child (8) plays on a SKAHA team and they all had the amazing opportunity to play on the ice that day and see “backstage.” We were so grateful for that!

All was a positive family night out until all the fights broke out during the hockey game and were loudly encouraged by the audience. I know this is a reality of hockey (having grown up in Canada, I understand and appreciate the game), however, it seemed over the top. How sad is it that our society continues to cheer fights more than an excellent play and sportsmanship? How is it that fighting is not allowed in other sports to this level (except for boxing) but is allowed to take center stage as we encourage and cheer it, and of course our children follow this example? How is it that we promote anti-bullying in schools, yet we cheer louder than ever for such degrading behavior?

Wait, there is more. There was a video at some point in the game to do with a movie quiz. Whether one saw the movie or not, I could not understand the reason to play such an amateur video (I assume with hockey fans performing) to our youth.

There were scenes in this video where the discussion was about a song called Lady Hump (repeated several times in case we didn’t hear it), then there was discussion about getting drunk and in case we hadn’t educated our children enough about the “dark side of hockey” – we could enjoy one of the MC’s imitating smoking on the big screen video in the middle of the rink.

I was informed that this video was a competition of sorts, so is this the height of encouragement for all those teens with a video camera? As parents try so hard to raise good kids, what sort of a bar is the T-Bird management setting with this type of competition when it could be put to good use with kids and young teens promoting their successes and/or community contributions in a positive video?

My grand finale for the evening, was when I turned to look at a VIP booth to the left of me and could clearly see a broadcast of a couple having intercourse on TV and NO it wasn’t a commercial, it was a movie. They were fully clothed, however, it did not take a rocket scientist to realize what they were doing!

To think that many parents in the SKAHA organization specifically bought group tickets for their kids to see their “mentors” play hockey and they drove the distance to not only see the game but to also support the economy in Kent makes me wonder how an organization such as the T-Birds can get away with such crass choices.

These days, one would think that the material in videos played for any audience would be approved in advance. As well, that there would be limits on the types of movies/videos displayed where the public can see them (knowing those are private suites does not give them the right to display R-rated movies to a large section of the arena). The “actors and the MC” should be embarrassed (again, my opinion) as one could not call what they did a performance of anything aside from stupidity.

On the positive side, it was a great hockey game. The staff – particularly the ushers were very friendly. I did address my concerns to an employee the night of the game and would be curious to see if he passed on the information as he seemed way too busy to deal with my “petty concerns”.

We want our children to experience all sports for the good of competition, for their health and for their enjoyment over all. We should not have to dodge videos and commercials at a hockey game or any family event the same way we have to monitor every minute of their daily lives.

I hope I am not the only parent to complain, as that alone would be a sad indication of our acceptance as a society.

Susan Sullivan, Issaquah