Hockey Association Questions City's Plan for Bullying Policy
By Ryan Schlehuber

A committee to create a bullying policy for city recreation facilities now includes a St. Ignace Hockey Association representative, after concerns surfaced over the hockey association's image at a St. Ignace Recreation Advisory Committee meeting Wednesday, May 9.

Doug Goudreau, the hockey association's treasurer and a member of the recreation board, is the new member of a subcommittee formed by Mayor Paul Grondin to create a bullying policy that will be distributed to all users of cityoperated facilities.

The committee also includes Recreation Advisory Committee member Emily Fullerton, recreation programs manager Erica Cena, and City Manager Eric Dodson, who also serves as the city's recreation director.

The subcommittee will outline responsibilities for city facility supervisors, conduct for coaches, players, and fans to follow, and protocol establishing when police should be called to a location.

A city policy governing conduct at public facilities would apply to all groups participating in city events or renting city facilities.

The St. Ignace Hockey Association, however, which rents the ice rink for its youth program, contends it "governs itself" and operates under rules adopted by the Michigan Amateur Hockey Association (MAHA) and USA Hockey.

Following an April 30 St. Ignace News article about the formation of the conduct committee, officers of the hockey association sent a letter to the newspaper condemning the action, with the implication that the proposed policy against bullying in city facilities is aimed at the hockey organization.

The letter writers, including the association president, Scott Winkelman, and Eric Danielson, Rick Eberts, and Mr. Goudreau, attended the meeting last week.

"The way it was reported in the paper doesn't seem to be the way the meeting was run," Mr. Winkelman told the committee. "It sounds to me something was lost in translation."

He didn't say what he thought that might be, or where the hockey association thinks its rules of conduct might be in conflict with the city's.

"Hockey is self-governing," said Mr. Eberts. "We have rules and we follow through with them. The whole point in this entire brouhaha is that the St. Ignace Hockey Association takes things very seriously."

"All I know is that the hockey association comes under a lot of fire," added Mr. Danielson.

Several members of the recreation board said they were confused about why members of the hockey association are so upset over a newspaper article that did not criticize the hockey association.

"Something else is going on here," said Recreation Advisory Committee member Craig Therrian. "I read the newspaper article five times and, looking at the letter to the editor you wrote in the newspaper and comparing it to the article, I don't see a connection."

No one from the hockey association responded to Mr. Therrian's comments.

"This is not about hockey," said Recreation Advisory Committee member Marianne Huskey.

Committee Chairman Don Gustafson explained that the discussion about bullying at the April meeting lasted, at most, 10 minutes and included no criticism of the hockey association. Other events were mentioned during the initial discussion of a bullying policy, too, said Mr. Gustafson, such as the high school prom and the city soccer program.

"We said the hockey association is a different entity," he said. "That, somehow, may have been [interpreted] that the hockey association are big bullies. But it is clear to me that I did not see at the meeting any anti-hockey association talk at all."

Mr. Danielson said he supports a bullying policy, but he believes it is not needed for the hockey association.

"Do you have to look into MAHA?" he asked the board. "Why would you need a policy with us?"

Mr. Gustafson said the only policy the city has now, for any of its programs, is for calling police if there is trouble.

The city needs to implement a plan of action for city site supervisors as to when they need to become involved in a situation, Miss Cena said.

"It's pretty clear the hockey association and Little Bear East have a good relationship, but there are others that use the Little Bear East facility, as well as our football field, baseball fields, and track," said Mr. Gustafson, "and with anything we are involved with, we should have a policy in place when things go wrong. If someone is belittling someone or saying something inappropriate, whether it's punt, pass, and kick, softball, basketball, or hockey, we have to step in."

In other business at the Recreation Advisory Committee meeting, C. J. Campbell provided prices for skateboard course equipment improvements to the city's skate park, across the street from the Little Bear East Arena and Community Center. He also questioned why the wooden equipment was removed. Mayor Grondin said the equipment was damaged and had become a liability for the city.

Mr. Campbell was asked by the board earlier this year to make a list of what kind of skateboarding course equipment he and his friends would like to see at the city's skate park and gather cost estimates. Mr. Campbell found estimates from Jennings of Michigan, with costs ranging from $2,300 to $20,000 for each piece of equipment.

The board agreed to install a bench at the skate park, but suggested Mr. Campbell seek money from local service clubs to fund other improvements at the skate park.

Mr. Dodson reported that the ski hill, open for 11 days this winter, netted a profit of just less than $5,000.