The goal posts for Faye Matt’s new job may turn out to be forever in motion, but she’s encouraged that there’s even a starting line to speak of.
Matt, who calls Balgonie home, was hired by Hockey Saskatchewan in October to work as the organization’s senior manager of culture and inclusion. That role, Hockey Sask said in announcing Matt’s hiring, will include work as the association’s equity, diversity and inclusion director and cultural specialist. Matt will also serve as a governance advisor to Hockey Saskatchewan members and a policy advisor within the organization.
Before joining Hockey Saskatchewan, Matt worked 15 years with Special Olympics Saskatchewan, including the last 10 as CEO.
“I love to see positive impacts on sport,” Matt said in a phone interview, speaking to her interest in the Hockey Sask job. “I know that hockey is a very strong component in the culture of Saskatchewan communities – even growing up in Balgonie and seeing what an important aspect it was to our community, when we were building our rink for example, and seeing how it brought people together.”
As the parent of a minor hockey player however, Matt has also seen firsthand how the game can breed toxicity.
“Hockey has certainly had some not great reputational moments in recent history and … there’s not historically been a lot of space for making a welcoming environment,” she said.
As one example, Matt pointed to the language of Canada’s national sport.
“There are times at the rink you’ll hear language that, if you heard it at the supermarket or at the local coffee shop, people would be floored,” she said.
Matt’s observations are supported in part by a Nov. 30 report from Hockey Canada, which said its independent third party – an arms-length department formed to receive and investigate complaints of abuse in the sport – received 1,872 complaints in its first year of operation. Of those, approximately 35 per cent concerned bullying and harassment while just over 34 per cent involved discrimination.
Rick Westhead of TSN further reported earlier this month that the federal Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner received 78 complaints regarding abuse in Canadian amateur sports from July 1-Oct. 31.
Separately, Westhead reported Sunday that a recent survey conducted by the Coaches Association of Ontario showed 82 per cent of respondents who were aware of hazing within their team or organization believed it was “part of team building.”
Monday, federal sport minister Carla Qualtrough addressed the overarching issue of abuse in sports by announcing the creation of an 18-month Future of Sport Commission.
Qualtrough said the sport commission – which she estimates could cost up to $15 million – will be modelled after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and will issue a series of calls to action upon its conclusion. A national summit will also be held once the commission has finished its work.
“We need to talk about racism and misogyny and homophobia and transphobia,” Qualtrough said in announcing the commission. “We need to talk about the negative, inappropriate and dangerous behaviour that has been normalized. The language used, the gestures, the mockery, the intimidation. We need to talk about roles and responsibilities. Parents, athletes, officials, administrators, volunteers, fans, coaches and governments. We all have a role to play.”
Specific to her new position, Matt said that role could include developing goals with and delivering programming to local minor hockey associations, helping evaluate the effectiveness of existing discipline measures, and advising Hockey Saskatchewan’s board and management when it comes to policies and best practices around inclusion and diversity.
The aims of that work, she continued, may involve reducing the number of complaints received within the province as behaviours improve, ensuring a safe space for women in hockey, and increased participation from what Matt termed “underserved” communities, where infrastructure or economics may currently be barriers to meaningful participation.
“Truly the first part of what I’ve been doing has been just exploring and building understanding, but I’m also working with our board of directors on what we want to do, and, the hope or vision is, in the early going anyway, what are those high-impact, low-effort things we can do right away to ensure that we’re starting right away toward those targets?” said Matt.
“So, I’ll be looking at things we can do that will support minor hockey associations that already do incredible work with, typically, a very small group of volunteers, in all corners of the province. Supporting minor hockey associations in their governments and also expanding leadership knowledge for members of our organization.”
