Female hockey players feel 'unsafe' after dressing room taken away at Ridgetown arena

Young female hockey players are feeling "unsafe" after being kicked out of their dressing room to make way for an all-boys AAA team at an arena in Ridgetown, Ont.

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The president of the South Kent Minor Hockey Association (SKMHA) issued a statement to the municipality of Chatham-Kent Sunday, calling for staff to reinstate the girls' dressing room at the East Kent Memorial Arena in order to "restore safety, security, dignity and equality to female players."

Darren Goyette is the Recreation Facilities Supervisor for Chatham-Kent. He said they have met with the association several times about their concerns.

"We agreed that we would look into putting a change room on the other side of the arena for them. We've been gathering information on that and there's a report to council going as soon as possible so we can get started on this project after the new year," said Goyette.

The hockey association includes teams with both male and female players who need separate dressing rooms, but earlier this year, the change room used by female players was leased to the Chatham Cyclones AAA hockey team.

Cyclones president Steven Vanek wrote in a statement to CBC that the travel team — which has had female players in the past, but currently is made up of all boys — has always wanted "a dressing room that our kids could call their own," but the only one available was in Ridgetown.

"We sympathize with any concerns regarding this matter," he wrote. "We can not talk on the municipalities' (sic) behalf but are confident they are doing what is best for everyone."

Inside of girls' dressing room visible from lobby

Female players who had been using a standard dressing room complete with benches, showers and bathrooms were bumped to a room directly off the arena lobby, according to Shawn Allen from the SKMHA.

"It's so small, it's tiny and all there are are chairs, just normal chairs at a hall ... there's not a bench, there's not a sink for the girls to wash their hands, there's not a shower for them to have a shower afterwards and it fits maybe three girls," explained Laurie Glassford, a former member of the board who has three grandchildren — including two girls — currently playing at the arena.

"They had one door that opens up to the lobby where people can see in and it's 10 feet away from the men's bathroom," she added.

By leasing the girl's dressing room ... the municipality has created the situation where the female players are treated inequitably.- Shawn Allen, SKMHA president

The space becomes even more cramped if one of the girls attempting to change is a goalie, said Glassford, who said in one instance spectators even went into the girls' change room and took their chairs to watch the game — all while their belongings were in the room.

Complaints from parents and players about the "inadequacy and inappropriateness" of the room led the municipality to refit an accessible washroom at the opposite end of the arena into a dressing room, stated Allen, but it still does not contain a shower and only has room for three girls. 

He cites the Ontario Hockey Federation's requirement that "all dressing room spaces and procedures are safe, inclusive and equitable" and adds the Human Rights Code also demands all people have "equal treatment with respect to services, goods and facilities, without discrimination because of ... sex."

Allen adds while the federation and Human Rights Commission may take the limitations of facilities into consideration, the issue is not the building itself, but the decision made by Chatham-Kent staff.

Girls have to walk across arena

"By leasing the girls' dressing room ... the municipality has created the situation where the female players are treated inequitably."

"I think they feel like they are not being treated fairly. I think they feel like they're not being recognized as an equal to the boys," Allen told CBC in a phone interview. 

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Glassford said the decision to shift the girls from room to room has left them feeling disrespected and uncomfortable.

"They're feeling very unsafe, they have to walk through the lobby to go out onto the ice with the boys ... but the boys' dressing rooms are right behind the benches," she said. "I am irate, this should not be happening in 2017."