'Serious consequences' needed for abusive Blue Bombers fans, counsellor says
An attack by Blue Bomber fans on a boy they mistook for a Saskatchewan Roughriders supporter is disgraceful but not uncommon, says a counsellor for Sport Manitoba.
Teams and sporting groups need to introduce "serious consequences" so people feel safe, "not just put up a poster that says 'Everyone should be nice,'" said Bruce Wood, who holds a master's degree in social psychology and has advised sports organizations about bullying and hazing.
The abuse levelled at Janelle-Marie Emond and her nine-year-old son at a football game in Winnipeg on Sunday made headlines across the country.
Emond and her son were excited to attend their first Bomber game at Investors Group Field, but when he pulled on a green sweater because he was cold, they became targets of verbal abuse and the boy had beer poured over his head.
"Sadly … I wasn't terribly surprised [about the abuse]," said Wood. "What was the biggest surprise for me, in reading about it, was that the assault — and it is an assault — was on a child."
We hear from all kinds of sports where bullying, harassment, coach abuse and spectator aggression happen all too often.- Bruce Wood
That said, aggressive sports fans are becoming less discriminating when it comes to the age of their targets, he said.
"We've come to learn with some of these sport-aggression incidents that it really doesn't matter to the individuals who are behaving aggressively. They'll target virtually anyone."
That type of behaviour has become so common, in fact, that Sport Manitoba offers a 24-hour support line for victims.
And it doesn't matter which sport, although living in Canada, the scale tends to tip toward hockey, Wood said.
"But on the support line, we hear from all kinds of sports where bullying, harassment, coach abuse and spectator aggression happen all too often."
Abuse at minor sports games, too
It's not just at the professional level. People, including kids, who witness behaviour like that at NHL or CFL games take it back to the minor level.
Wood has been to basketball, hockey and volleyball games for his kids where people in the stands chanted aggressively for their team or even fought in the stands.
Many people blame alcohol for the behaviour, but that's too easy a target, Wood said.
"All that alcohol functions as is a disinhibitor. It simply allows or gives permission to people who would behave that way anyway to behave aggressively."
Some of the blame must also be placed on the sporting environment. While they might not actively encourage it, some venues and organizations facilitate an aggressive attitude among spectators, Wood said.
While they can't change the sport — people hitting other people is an inherent aspect of football — they can change how they deal with incidents like the one involving Emond in order to set an example, he said.
Teams need to introduce serious consequences to make everyone feel safe, knowing such behaviour will be dealt with strictly and immediately.
When Bombers management were made aware of the incident with Emond and her son, they immediately contacted them and then dropped off free tickets to four future games as well as two Bomber shirts and a special Blue Bomber coin.
That's not enough, said Wood.
"It's a wonderful thing for the Blue Bombers to give gifts and free tickets to the young person and the young person's family involved, but I also think there need to be consequences for the individuals who behaved aggressively," he said.
"What's in the mind of spectators in the stands at any game, when they come to learn that if they behave aggressively to a child in that environment, the only consequence will be free tickets for the child? What's to stop them from behaving that way again?"
It's also important for sports organizations to provide some level of education for spectators, athletes and everyone involved around the sport, so they recognize unacceptable behaviour and that there's a difference between cheering for your team and saying "go kill them" about the other team, Wood said.