Five hockey parents on southern Vancouver Island will be spending this upcoming weekend in the penalty box after agreeing to serve one-game suspensions.
The Vancouver Island Amateur Hockey Association issued a rare warning several weeks ago, saying it would ban parents from games if they continued to exhibit bad behaviour.
Spokesperson Jim Humphrey said the parents verbally attacked referees, young players and even other parents at a midget-level playoff game on Saturday.
Some of the victims are between 15 and 17 years old.
“Parents were taking some liberties at the game officials as well as some of the players of the opposing team,” he said, adding that the incident escalated to the point that parents from both teams were involved.
According to officials, a controversial call at last weekend's game sparked the non-violent incident.
Peers blew the whistle about what happened, and the parents agreed to sit out of weekend games after a brief investigation by the league.
