Just a few weeks ago, it was revealed that a former Chicago Blackhawks video coach is being sued for sexually assaulting a young player back in 2010. The NPR article discusses how the player, Kyle Beach, claims his complaints were neglected because the team had a good chance to go far in the playoffs, which they did end up winning that season. Upper management ignored his concerns and as the player states, he felt he had no choice but to go along with it because he was a rookie in the league. As a new player to the team, it is hard to go against authority when your career is in their hands. Recent investigations showed that these allegations were true and several other incidents with other individuals occurred during that time.
This story is unfortunately one of many that come out in sports where the monetary success and protection of management is placed above player safety. Similarly to the recent situation with the Las Vegas Raiders head coach, these actions were allowed to persist because they had power. This is a deep systemic issue as it puts innocent players, who are the heart of a team, at an extremely vulnerable position underneath those who are giving the paychecks and making important decisions. This is reminiscent of a subaltern relationship as Spivak would describe. The NHL has all the power over their players and can silence them for their own benefit. One of the most troubling results of this is even after the fact that this assault has been confirmed, the team continues to defend their organization and claim that player safety is their priority. However, what goes on behind closed doors does not always match this idealistic mission.
Since this event, there has been a large push for the current NHL commissioner Gary Bettman to resign, which can be read more about here. He had announced his formal apology on both his personal behalf and the response of the entire league to the former player. Although many other upper-level management officials have been stepping down from their positions, Bettman believes the league is handling the situation in a respectful manner and placing the right punishment on the team organization.
-Sebastiano Layne
I really liked your blog post as it expresses the neglect of harassment in sports sometimes even at the highest level and how big organizations and teams silence them in order to fulfill their own interests. Another example of this scenario is – recently reports of the former Saints head coach being homophobic and misogynistic led to his resignation. Recent movements to spread more awareness about such matters have definitely made an impact but that is not suffice to think that such situations cease to exist at all.
It unfortunate that any professional athlete would have to deal with sexual assault and then have their claims be ignored. I think sports can be taken too far when they ignore problems when it could get in the way of winning. Not only does sexual assault happen in female sports, but it happens in male sports. I think there is a stigma that sexual assault happens to female athletes more than male athletes. Both genders should be taken seriously if they are sexually assault within their sport.
I think you did a great job explaining the power money has in these situations. It is not fair that people have to choose between careers and their own safety. This can be seen in many of the injustice posts and is an unfortunate theme in society.