Interview with QMJHL Commissioner | “If you do stupid things, you’ll pay for it.”

In an interview with Journalismthe QMJHL commissioner is evaluating the matter after two former Tigres players pleaded guilty

(Quebec) The big boss of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) hopes the guilty plea of ​​two former Victoriaville Tigers players, in a sexual assault case, will get more than one person thinking.

What is there to know

• Two former Victoriaville Tigres players accused of sexual assault pleaded guilty this week.
• The QMJHL commissioner wants to meet with Victoriaville Tigres leaders in the coming months, but has ruled out an internal investigation for now.
• The QMJHL has implemented a series of measures to train adults supervising youth hockey players and sensitize them to the concept of consent.
• The former Tigers players are expected to be sentenced in the coming months.

“Young people still have an example today that no one is above the law. “If you do stupid things, you will pay for it,” QMJHL commissioner Mario Cecchini said in an interview with Journalism.

We have young people at the beginning of their lives who are at risk of incarceration. I hope this speaks to a lot of people.

Mario Cecchini, QMJHL Commissioner

In a long interview, Mario Cecchini detailed the measures the league has taken to prevent cases of sexual assault. He has also committed to meeting with Tigers management in the coming months to provide feedback on the entire issue, but is not considering a formal investigation at this time.

Nicolas Daigle and Massimo Siciliano, accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl in the hours after they won the QMJHL President’s Cup final in June 2021, pleaded guilty on Wednesday. They will know their punishment later.

This case caused a stir in the Quebec hockey world. This comes in the wake of the Hockey Canada scandal. Recall that a young woman claims she was sexually assaulted by eight players from the Junior Team Canada in Ontario in June 2018.

Consent training

The commissioner says that all these events have encouraged the association to make more efforts. Last year, documentary filmmaker Lea Clermont-Dionne gave a training on consent for hockey players. The 450 players will again have to follow a webinar on the same topic this year.

Trainers and staff are also trained on these sensitive issues. “Seniors have really tremendous pressure” right now in hockey, according to the commissioner. “It’s like I’m a father of 25 kids,” he explains of the coaches.

“We cannot ask them to be hockey coaches, psychologists and educational consultants at the same time… We have surrounded them with specialists, and they are more than before,” confirms Gil Corto’s successor.

In defense of young hockey players

According to the commissioner, the sexual assault that occurred after the Tigers’ 2021 win does not specifically reflect the toxic culture in hockey. He recalled that one of the players filmed the attack before showing the video to his teammates and the coach. Ultimately, the victim went with her mother to the police station to file a complaint.

“When we talk about behaviors that need to be eliminated, it’s in society, not in hockey,” he says.

“I’m not belittling the behaviour. But as is the case in society, there is a small minority out of our 450 players who have that kind of behaviour.

Therefore, the Association ensures that it takes the issue of sexual assault seriously, as it does the issue of initiatives that go further (remember that the QMJHL is the target of the Collective Action Request on Harassment).

But the Commissioner believes that it would be an illusion to believe that everything can be solved overnight through training. He cites as an example cases of drunk driving, which number in the hundreds every year in Quebec, despite awareness campaigns.

Natasha Laurens, director of player services for the QMJHL, also points out that former Tigers players convicted of sexual assault have received training at Victoriaville CEGEP on the idea of ​​consent.

“They even saw a sexologist come in to talk about concepts of consent. So it’s not because things aren’t done,” she said.

But the ruling on the hockey players, expected in the coming months, is sure to have a major impact. “I hope that if there is anything positive from what happened, it is that it will enlighten young people to prevent other unfortunate situations from occurring,” says Mario Cecchini.