The RCMP is investigating allegations that dozens of teenage athletes were groped at last weekend's B.C. Summer Games on Vancouver Island.

Around 30 participants reported being touched inappropriately during a co-ed dance at the Cowichan Exhibition Centre on Saturday night.

"It was a dance we have over the course of the weekend for the athletes, a celebration of them coming together as an athlete community," said Kelly Mann, president of the B.C. Games Society.

"About halfway through the evening a group of girls started coming off the dance floor saying they had been inappropriately touched by some male athletes."

Volunteers quickly shut the event down and began working with the alleged victims to determine what happened. Mann said they believe there were about a half dozen males involved, and they were all young athletes involved in the games.

"It wasn't an individual running around the room, it was a collection of people," he said.

Whether any of them eventually face criminal charges will be up to police and prosecutors, but Mann said the Games Society intends to dish out its own discipline separately.

"This is behaviour that is contrary to our policies, our practices of respect, integrity and the whole spirit of sport," he said. "Certainly, if we're able to determine names of individuals then we would take measures to make sure they never darken our door again."

The North Cowichan RCMP detachment confirmed it was alerted about the allegations on Sunday morning. Investigators are now working to identify all of the accusers and the accused.

"While we have initiated an investigation into these allegations, it is imperative that anyone who may have been a victim or witnessed the incident contact police so the matter can be thoroughly investigated," Staff Sgt. Annie Linteau said in a news release.

Participants at the B.C. Summer Games generally range in age from 13 to 18, according to Mann.

The Games Society said a letter was sent out to participants' parents on Wednesday night alerting them about what happened.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact the RCMP at 250-748-5522.