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Letter: When hockey fans cross the line

Until recently, I had never been properly exposed to shouting, bloodthirsty, hockey spectators.
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In this Jan. 9, 2018, photo, fans cheer at the ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash., about 20 miles south of Seattle, after the Seattle Thunderbirds scored a goal during a Western Hockey League game against the Portland Winterhawks. Hockey’s history in Seattle dates back more than a century to when the Seattle Metropolitans hoisted the 1917 Stanley Cup, and all indications are that an NHL franchise could arrive sometime after 2020, depending on construction of a remodeled Seattle Center arena. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Until recently, I had never been properly exposed to shouting, bloodthirsty, hockey spectators.

I deemed this a reasonable expectation as the young men playing Bantam hockey recently in West Kelowna are 13 and 14 years old at best, not being paid, and the admission was free.

So I have to assume that the visiting team from Salmon Arm had to be on a long, soul-crushing losing streak for spectators to immediately yell at the 13-year-old referee at the first call he made, and then proceed to demand that players on their team ‘kill him’, ‘skate through him’ and ‘hit him,’ referring to the opposing team.

I am positive that the guilty people on this team are the Donald Trumps of sports ‘fans’ meaning they are there and exist, but no one knows how they got there, and no one actually wants them there.

Anyone who has watched any sporting event knows the difference between passionately rooting for a team and threatening behaviour. Unfortunately, the responsibility for curbing this behaviour lies with other parents and coaches on this team as a spectator on the opposing team yelling at these people to shut up would only escalate the situation.

The visiting team from Salmon Arm won the game handily.

They played better; they were well mannered judging by their behaviour on the ice, they were entertaining.

Hopefully, these 13 and 14 year old players can serve as an example to some of the people watching them.

Jeremy Brown