A Black Diamond mother has started a petition to fight for her right to watch her children play hockey after learning it’s prohibited at her local arena.
Page Emerson said she’s brought her concerns about Oilfields Regional Arena not allowing spectators, including parents, to attend sporting events to Black Diamond administration, councillors and MLA R.J. Sigurdson, and started the petition Tuesday.
The arena opened to pre-booked user groups on Monday.
“I strongly believe that there needs to be at least one parent in the building,” said Emerson, who has two children enrolled with the High Country Minor Hockey Association.
Emerson said her biggest concern is the mental health of her family.
“My youngest son doesn’t want to get on the ice if no one is cheering him on,” she said. “They strive for their parents to be their number one fan - it makes them work harder and try harder. Taking that away takes a lot of the family aspect out of it, which can cause a lot of mental health issues down the line. It’s all about compromise.”
Other concerns of Emerson’s are that the arena doors will be locked while the children are in the building and that parents can’t assist their children with their equipment during practices and games.
“I don’t feel comfortable with a stranger doing it, nor should the coaches be responsible,” she said. “Definitely the majority of the parents, I would say, are furious with these rules.”
During an interview with the Western Wheel last week, parks and recreation manager Les Quinton said children must arrive dressed to play, save their skates, as the lobby and change rooms are closed.
As for prohibiting spectators, Quinton said there’s too much staff time and cost involved with cleaning the bleachers between events.
Turner Valley mom Lana Hamilton said Alberta Health Services and Hockey Alberta allow up to 100 spectators at sport events, as long as physical distancing is adhered to, and the arena should do the same.
With two boys in hockey, she’s also concerned about the arena doors being locked.
“To me it’s just red flag as a parent,” she said, adding it’s also a vulnerability issue for children, arena staff and coaches. “I think we’re walking a fine line between what’s the best in a pandemic, but what problems are we creating in trying to be safe?”
The restrictions have gone a step too far with the decision to keep the doors locked while players are inside, Hamilton said.
“Yes, we need to be safe and we need to protect our community, but maybe there’s other ways to keep the community safe and keep parents and kids comfortable,” she said. “Even if you allowed a parent in per child, plus all the children, plus coaches, it would be around 30-35 people - well under the recommendations by the Province and Hockey Alberta.”
High Country Minor Hockey Association president Murray Ingstrup has heard similar concerns from parents, but said the association is doing the best it can.
“We’re just trying to work through all of this like everybody else,” he said. “We want everyone to have patience and we can hopefully get back to some sense of normality in a few months.”
Foothills Skating Club president Tasha Greening said arena staff is making some accommodations for the club, including allowing one parent per child to assist with putting on and taking off skates before and after practices and games.
“A lot of the stuff we’ve asked for they’ve accommodated us,” she said. “We have had positive interactions and open dialogue with the arena.”
Yet, Greening shares others’ concerns about the locked doors and no spectators rule.
“You just never know what’s going to happen,” she said. “What if a kid gets injured?”
Black Diamond parent Crystal Warnke chose not to register her nine-year-old son in soccer this season because the arena is not allowing spectators. Warnke said keeping parents from their children is a safety risk and a red flag.
“Obviously there’s tons of great coaches out here, but you get into situations where sometimes there are unsafe adults around,” she said.
Not allowing parents to spectate is an overreaction, Warnke said.
“When you look at COVID stats, there’s not many cases of children who have passed away of COVID,” she said. “Instead of coaches pushing for the parents to follow the rules why aren’t the coaches pushing for the parents to be there. As parents we need to stand up for our rights.”
Oilfields Sports Association president Pamela Bruinsma said it’s the association’s role to make informed decisions for the safety of children, and while she’s aware the decisions won’t appease all parents, they’re erring on the side of caution.
“We understand the restrictions are quite stressful and frustrating,” she said. “We would never forgive ourselves if we loosened the rules just because we wanted to make people happy.”
Bruinsma said the association is required to follow protocols and is working on finding a happy medium in doing what’s best for the children.
“Right now, with everything that’s been going on the last six months, the physical and mental benefits of organized sports is what our kids need more than ever,” she said. “We’re all on the same side, we all want what's best. Ultimately we all have the same interests at heart.”
Bruinsma said the non-profit organization is bracing itself for a lower enrolment in September “because of the spectrum of emotions that are involved.”
Discussions have taken place with the parks and rec department about allowing a small cohort of parents to assist with children going to the washroom.
“We’re definitely trying to find solutions.”
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