Former NHL player Sheldon Kennedy said he believes the Chicago Blackhawks sexual assault scandal provides an example of an “archaic approach” to an organization using a “systemic response,” something he feels must change in the future. sport.
“We need to get to the point where winning at all costs is not our number one priority,” he said.
A recent report from an outside law firm details how top Blackhawks leaders mishandled allegations that an assistant coach sexually assaulted player Kyle Beach during the team’s 2010 Stanley Cup race.
Kennedy, who spoke Thursday in Lucky Lake, Sask., Said “taught skills” are required so that everyone can have a clear understanding of how to properly treat these cases.
“Posters, buttons, policies and procedures do not change the culture,” he said. “Until the sport makes this a priority, as they win, they will never have the change that I think people expect from them.”
READ MORE: Parents could help hold sports organizations to account for sexual abuse, experts say
Kennedy has been a leading voice for victims of sexual abuse following his own experience of being abused by then-coach Graham James for five years during his time as a junior hockey player.
Beach told TSN Wednesday night that he felt “lonely and dark” in the days following the alleged sexual assault and that the healing process is only now beginning.
An independent review commissioned by the Blackhawks in response to two lawsuits led to the recent departure of team executives Stan Bowman and Al MacIsaac. The investigation found that Beach’s allegations against then-assistant Brad Aldrich were largely ignored by the team for three weeks after a meeting took place on May 23, 2010 to discuss them.
The NHL fined the Blackhawks $ 2 million for “inadequate internal procedures of the organization and insufficient and inopportune response.”
READ MORE: Hockey ‘broken’ culture is reflected in Blackhawks’ treatment of Kyle Beach – Experts
Kennedy, who spent 10 years in the NHL, is a co-founder of the Respect Group, an online provider of preventive education related to bullying, abuse, bullying and discrimination.
“I think these issues and what we are trying to address is really about talking,” Kennedy told The Canadian Press. “I think there are many, many, many people who have wished they had spoken for different circumstances that they never felt they could or couldn’t get there.
“I think this is going to empower a lot of people, not just in the NHL but outside of the NHL as well.”
Panthers coach Joel Quenneville met with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on Thursday and resigned his post in Florida shortly thereafter.
READ MORE: Joel Quenneville as Florida Panthers coach amid Blackhawks sexual assault complaint
Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff planned to speak with Bettman on Friday. Both were with the Blackhawks when the allegations were first reported to the team’s leadership.
The case has reverberated throughout the NHL and has focused on team dynamics and power structures.
Former hockey player and sexual abuse survivor Greg Gilhooly, now a corporate attorney, said it only takes one person in an organization to “effectively make or break you.”
“The player is always at the whim of a coach or someone higher up the chain,” he said from Oakville, Ontario. “It’s a ladder you’re trying to climb and anyone can knock you down a rung.”
Gilhooly said that in some cases, it can be common for members of the organization to take a selfish approach rather than thinking about how subsequent actions can harm others even more.
“People who are directly affected by these things think first of their immediate circumstances, not the victims,” he said. “The people directly involved advocate above, they don’t think about the victims. The wider community sees the situation for what it is and appreciates that the victim comes forward.
“People directly affected by what the victim is doing run to hide and try to protect their bottoms.”
Among Beach’s allegations detailed in the TSN interview was that top Blackhawks officials did not credit his claims because they were prioritizing the opportunity to win a championship over his personal safety.
READ MORE: Kyle Beach Identifies Himself as Victim of Chicago Blackhawks Sexual Assault Investigation
Kennedy said that in the Blackhawks situation, the issue should have been addressed immediately.
“If you look at this case, it’s passersby,” he said. “There are a lot of eyes on that team on any given day, and how can we build trust within those eyes and within those people to know clearly what to do and clearly where to report, and to have that report follow through with action?
“It is not more difficult than that.”
Western University associate professor Ken Kirkwood, a bioethicist who specializes in professional ethical standards, said that for many athletes it can be challenging to navigate the power dynamics in sports teams.
“You were successful because you shut your mouth and did what was expected of you, you respected authority and did what was asked of you,” he said from London, Ontario. “So they have prepared you in a way, just by the process of the sport.
“So it’s conceivable that if someone had the inclination to use that against you, or as a weakness, that’s perfect.”
Sometimes people within an organization may have the feeling that something is not right, but they can quickly ignore it, Kirkwood said. Concerns about embarrassment, reduced value in favor, or lost opportunities can also make it difficult for people to express themselves, he added.
“Administrations have a way of describing you as a problem,” he said. “You could be incredibly talented, but if you stand up for yourself and don’t follow the way (teams) do things in terms of deference to the authority of the coaches, they label you a prime case or a difficult player or an attitude type. . “
© 2021 The Canadian Press
Reference-globalnews.ca