One woman ended up with a broken nose after parents of opposing teams fought in the stands of a kids’ hockey game last Saturday, RCMP in Osoyoos said.
Police were called to a brawl in the stands at the Sun Bowl Arena in the south Okanagan town on April 2, during the Osoyoos Desert Classic Hockey Tournament.
The game involved 10-year-old players from Langley’s New Western Bruins and the BC Interior Stars out of Vernon, Kelowna West Kelowna, Summerland and Penticton.
The game had just ended and the players had gone to the dressing room before the parents started fighting, police said.
An RCMP investigation revealed the parents were staying at a local resort where they had been consuming liquor throughout the day, prior to attending the evening game. The adults were consuming so much liquor, police said, the resort had to call in extra security.
Police said both sides were yelling insults at one another prior to the fight.
“Alcohol is believed to have played a large factor in the very poor choices made by these parents,” Cpl. Jason Bayda of the Osoyoos RCMP said in a written release.
The fight resulted in minor injuries. Among them, a mom from Langley suffered a broken nose when she tried to intervene.
“It is unfortunate that these young children had to witness their parents act in such an immature way,” Bayda said.
Both hockey organizations issued statements following the incident.
“This was a clean, hard-fought game, which was deservedly won by the Stars,” reads the statement from Langley’s North Western Bruins.
“Nothing that occurred in the game merited the situation that broke out after the game.”
The statement said witnesses believe the incident would have ended with verbal jousting, except that one of the BCIS fathers punched an NWB mother in the face twice, resulting in a broken nose, facial fracture and concussion.
The injuries have been described as severe.
It also said that the women was attempting to diffuse the tension between the man who struck her and one of the fathers from the Langley club.
The statement claims the situation then escalated substantially with additional parents from both teams becoming involved.
The team denies the allegation that the parents were drunk.
The statement released by the Okanagan team claims one father from the Stars and three fathers from the Langley team began fighting before coaches from both teams intervened and diffused the situation quickly.
“There is no excuse for this type of behaviour in youth hockey,” the statement reads.
The players and coaches were off the ice and in the dressing room but the coaches did return and help assist in ending the altercation.
The Bruins statement added that the incident has been addressed with both parents and players to prevent something similar from happening again.
“Our program has always been about family and fun. We will take the appropriate steps to ensure that this continues to be the case.”
— files from Penticton Western News