Vancouver youth soccer coach says racism complaint went uninvestigated for a year

Vancouver youth soccer coach Andrew Baron speaks to CTV News on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (CTV News)

The coach of a soccer team in the Vancouver Youth Soccer Association claims a complaint about racism directed at 13-year-old players on his team went unaddressed for more than a year.

Andrew Baron told CTV News the alleged incident took place during a match in October 2023.

"There was a player on the opposing team who kept engaging in a racist behaviour, stretching out his eyes targeting kids of an East Asian background on our team, saying things right in their face,” he said. “Not even when they had the ball. So, just like targeting them, hunting them down the field."

Baron said he spoke with the opposing coach after the game and they tried to convince the player alleged to have engaged in the racist gestures to apologize, but he refused.

At that point, Baron tried to make a formal complaint on behalf of his players – but was told the impacted players would have to make the complaint themselves.

“The process required the 12- and 13-year-old kids to write a formal statement. They’re now being asked to relive that experience and go through the pain of those emotions again,” he said.

Baron said the youth agreed to go through with the process.

He said 13 months passed and there was no investigation and no formal response from the VYSA or the BC Coastal Soccer League, despite his repeated attempts to have someone look into the allegations.

“It’s an unfortunate reality of our world that bullying and harassment can occur in any and every area of our lives,” said Laura Track, director of human rights at the Community Legal Assistance Society.

Track told CTV News it is essential for all organizations to have robust policies when it comes to discrimination and harassment and to closely adhere to them when complaints arise.

“From a legal perspective, failing to respond effectively to a complaint of discrimination or harassment can land an organization in legal hot water,” she said.

According to Track, organizations that don’t address complaints in a reasonable fashion can open themselves up to human rights complaints.

The VYSA told CTV News it does take allegations of this nature seriously – but in this case there was initially a misunderstanding about whether the complaint should be handled by VYSA or the BCCSL.

"The matter should have been referred to the judicial committee of the BCSA (British Columbia Soccer Association) in accordance with their discipline and complaints policy," the VYSA said in a statement, adding the matter has now been escalated to the BCSA.

According to Baron, that did not happen until the organizations involved were contacted by CTV News 13 months after the complaint was initially filed.

“That’s a structural problem. But then you also have a personnel problem where there’s just apathy, right?” Baron said. “You’d hope that people would stand up to racism, but instead they’re just sitting back and standing by. That’s not who you want in positions of leadership.”

He would like to see the complaint properly investigated so his players can receive apologies and other youth soccer players get the message that racism has no place on the pitch.