Canadians and hockey

Whoever said that Canadians are apathetic haven't been to a town hall meeting in Bible Hill on the topic of equal ice time for young hockey players.

For those of you who aren't aware, Bible Hill is a small community in northern Nova Scotia. With a population of slightly less than 6,000, it is proud to be the home of the Nova Scotia Agricultural College, the only agricultural university in Atlantic Canada.

It may be less proud of having booted the Mi' kmaq off the Salmon River and buying the land (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) from the tribe, but that's another story.

Last night there was a meeting on the discussion of equal ice time for hockey kids and the hall packed in 200 vocal parents. 200. I bet if you attended a meeting on the environment, town planning or housing, almost anywhere in Canada, you'd be a lonely participant. But last night, in Bible Hill, the hall was packed.

The equal ice time rule is to ensure that coaches give all players an opportunity to play, not just the stars. It was implemented as an approach to the game rather than as a rigidly-enforced law.

But, wouldn't you know it? There are parents out at games with stopwatches timing, to the second, the ice time their kids get.

You may have guessed by now that the meeting was heated. Some parents argued that equal time should be strictly enforced and others called for coaches to give more play time to better players leaving beleaguered coaches to shake their heads over something that was meant to let kids learn the game and get to play. But for those parents, the issue of the century was, quite obviously, at hand.

Now, if only Canadians would pour this much passion into say, feeding the homeless or cutting down on carbon emissions.

Wow, what a country this could be!

Colleen