A new partnership between a coalition of sexual assault victim support centers and the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) will now oversee the enrollment and completion of mandatory consent and healthy masculinity training for OHL teams. This centralized team will ensure that all major junior teams participate in the required training.
The OHL implemented gender-based violence and consent training for all major junior teams about ten years ago through the Onside Program. This program, developed by two sexual assault support centers in the province, aims to educate junior hockey teams on these important topics. However, there were challenges in tracking the completion of training in the past, with about half of the teams not participating each year or opting for different training not specifically designed for OHL teams.
Karley Doucette, the manager of education and communications at the Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region, emphasized the importance of understanding consent. The two-hour Onside program, initiated in 2008 and made mandatory by the OHL in 2016, covers topics such as healthy masculinity, relationships, power dynamics, and bystander intervention.
The recent Hockey Canada trial, which ended with not guilty findings, sparked discussions on consent. OHL Commissioner Bryan Crawford highlighted the significance of understanding consent and differentiating between legality and morality.
Some sexual assault victim support centers have faced challenges in getting junior teams to participate in the Onside program consistently. Doucette mentioned that while some teams completed the training, others underwent different types of training, leading to inconsistency across the league.
Efforts to secure more funding for victim support centers offering the training and to establish centralized coordination for the Onside program had been proposed in 2023 but were not initially responded to by the OHL. However, a recent partnership has been formed to ensure oversight and consistency in training delivery.
Doucette mentioned that the increased honorarium for sexual assault centers conducting the training better compensates for their efforts. The OHL remains responsible for ensuring team participation and coordinating with local centers for training sessions.
Crawford viewed the changes as a positive evolution of the program, emphasizing the importance of impactful programming to achieve set goals. The aim is to administer beneficial training that makes a difference in promoting understanding and respect for consent.