On Thursday February 5, 2009, SportHamilton was delighted to host a News Conference to introduce the opportunity for the Hamilton sport community to participate in the Respect In Sport Parent Education. Respect in Sport, an on line education program originally designed for coaches, has now expanded to include a second on line program to educate sport parents. The goals of Respect In Sport are to ensure that enjoyment is the number one benefit for children involved in sport, to make sport less vulnerable to unsafe practices and to train parents to be positive participants in their child’s sport experiences. The launching of Respect In Sport was held at the Dave Andreychuk-Hamilton Mountain Arena – the home of the Hamilton Skating Club. SportHamilton President, Dr. Gene Sutton, announced that 100 parents from the Hamilton Skating Club will be the first participants in the Respect In Sport for Parents program. Tony Simpson, Vice-President, of the Hamilton Skating Club, spoke about his club’s enthusiastic commitment to this pilot project. Special guests included the two co founders of Respect in Sport –exNHLer Sheldon Kennedy and Wayne McNeil. Sheldon skated for three teams in his NHL career and played for Canada’s gold medal winning hockey team in the 1988 World Junior Championships. He is known for his courageous decision to charge Major Junior League Hockey Coach, Graham James, with sexual assault for the abuse he suffered over five years while a teenager under Graham’s care. Today Sheldon commits his time to Respect In Sport, the company he co founded, which has become Canada’s leading on line education program for the prevention of abuse, neglect, harassment and bullying in sport. Sheldon stressed in his speech that Respect In Sport provides the good parents ways to make things even better for their kids as well as the tools and practical advice needed to take a stand against problem parents. At the conclusion of the formal speeches, Sheldon joined a Figure Skating practice, skating warm up laps with the skaters and then received a lesson in executing a figure skating jump. SportHamilton will provide the funding for local sport organizations to participate In Respect in Sport for Parents with financial resources accessed from grants from the City of Hamilton, the Ticat Trust Fund and several SportHamilton fundraising initiatives. Hamilton sport organizations interested in the opportunity to enrol their parents in the Respect In Sport on line program should contact SportHamilton at \n info@sporthamilton.com
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