Hello Seattle Junior Community, 

Over the weekend a non-Seattle Junior hockey parent stepped onto the ice at KCI at a Junior Kraken vs. Sno-King game and assaulted two teenage referees. The footage is absolutely horrible. Seattle Junior leadership deeply condemns the completely unwarranted violence against teenagers, the absolute failure to respect the game and its Officials, and the utter lack of responsibility on display in front of children who are playing hockey to learn important life lessons. 

To all the Seattle Junior community members who are also Officials, you are appreciated, respected, and vital to the growth of our game. I am sincerely sorry that you experience so much unnecessary scrutiny and unwanted exposure while you are earnestly practicing a skill and honestly earning a living. 

Much of the online chatter is focused on the punitive/judicial outcome for this man and the disgust that is warranted by his actions. I want to hold our community to an ever higher standard than that. I want to challenge us to dig deeply into our METS Core Values and recognize this horrific event for the pivot moment that it is. We must always be developing the culture of our community and Seattle Junior's ambassadorship for the game of hockey in Washington. 

So, let's investigate why we enroll our kids in hockey every season. What is your WHY? If you are an adult in our hockey community, whether you are SJHA leadership, coach, parent, grandparent, guardian, and/or babysitter, you have the daily responsibility to model for our kids a growth mindset, a belief in long-term athletic development, a mature emotional regulation toolkit, a trust that volunteers are working their hardest, and a major respect for the game we all love. You have this responsibility because hockey has the power to transform kids into better citizens, learners, teammates, athletes, friends, and leaders which will impact them positively for the rest of their lives. This is our collective WHY?!

We acknowledge that passions run deep in our sport and in parenting in general, but we all need to step up to make our culture more aligned with our values. Here are some ways that might look:

• Review of Seattle Junior's METS Core Values:

Mindset: when we work hard, we improve. 

Education: when we learn, we grow. 

Trust: when we believe, we succeed.

Safety: when we respect the rules, the game, and other people, we thrive. 

• Review the USA Hockey Code of Conduct for spectators as well as SJHA's Mission, Vision, and Core Values. 
• Observe the 24 Hour Rule before complaining or addressing concerns to coaches, managers, SJHA staff, and other spectators. 
• If you are angry at the rink, go for a walk. 
• If you yell instructions to players, epithets to Officials, or slander to coaches as a spectator, channel that urge to run some stairs during the game instead. Or consider buying a subscription to LiveBarn. 
• Consider asking your player what they enjoyed about the game or practice and telling them that you enjoyed watching them work hard, persist after failure, display sportsmanship, and any other process/character oriented praise that is appropriate. 
• Watch hockey through the lens of joy: we have SO MUCH to enjoy about hockey. The kids put themselves out there, try new things in real time, show development over the long-term, and have an absolute blast doing it with their friends in our amazing community. What kind of positive impact can you create by seeing everything about hockey through the lens of JOY? Let's radiate that positivity to everyone in our community and beyond!
• Take gossip with a grain of salt. If you have questions about rumors, just ask us!

Seattle Junior leadership is going to use this time to reflect deeply about our strategies for garnering parent partnerships and structuring our messages for parent education in the future. The goal is not simply to avoid these kinds of unprecedented acts of violence, but rather to be the most respected ambassadors of the positive impacts of hockey culture for the whole state of Washington and, by doing so, transform the lives of all of our players through minor hockey. 

I have already reached out to Head Coaches to carve out time for parent and player meetings in the wake of this horrific event. We all need a moment in person to reset our standards and process what happened in our backyard. If you or your player (or your Official) would like to process with Seattle Junior staff, please do not hesitate to reach out. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I know we are asking a lot of you as parents, but I truly believe that I can ask you to rise to these standards because of the humanity we have shared, the amazing work I have already seen you do, and the trust we have built as a community over the years that I have directed. 

If you want to make positive change beyond our minor hockey program, become an Official. You can also take USA Hockey's Coach Education courses as well.

For all Mets, Red Hawks, Americans, Badgers, Bulldogs, Blue, Eagles, Red, Silver, Spartans, Totems, and White let's step up to our Core Values and provide transformational experiences for all players through the game of hockey.