Two Toronto hockey dads are suing a youth league because coaches had the temerity to point out to their sons' that they aren't very good at hockey. Pay attention, because important life lessons are about to be taught.
Vito Valela and David Longo, the terrific parents in question, are suing the Greater Toronto Hockey League, the Avalanche Minor Sports Club, and four coaches for $25,000 each, not because they cheated or lied or tied their kids to stakes and shot hockey pucks at them for four hours. They are suing because the mean coaches hurt their kids' feelings, when they told them they couldn't play on the team. Apparently, the most important function of sports is to insure that no one feels bad. Ever.
An actual quote from the suit:
Their direct actions have caused irreparable psychological damage to Daniel Longo's self esteem as an impressionable teenager and demoralized Daniel as an athlete and team hockey player with his peers. The conduct by all defendants destroyed the dignity of my son, whom in good conscience gave his team nothing but his best efforts."
You know what's awesome for a 15-year-old's self esteem? Having their idiot parents talk about their irreparable psychological damage in a court of law. (Using lawsuits to get things you didn't earn is a big ego booster, too.) I guess Dad figured that since his son's dignity was already destroyed, making him the laughing stock of an entire hockey-mad nation couldn't possibly make the hurt any greater. The other claim is just as precious.
When Christopher was advised of his termination by my wife and I, he vowed never to play the game he loved since childhood."
That's more mature than a lawsuit, I guess. The complainants do argue that the two coaches did not have the authority to hold tryouts, because they were suspended a year earlier, but the league claims that the rules totally allowed for it. I suppose it doesn't need to be said that getting cut is part of sports and children should understand that real self-esteem means handling disappointment without resorting to lawyers ... but I guess it does need to be said, otherwise we wouldn't have nonsense like this.
On second thought, just go ahead and keep protecting your kids from all the world's sadness. It obvious that no boy has ever dreamed harder about playing midget junior A hockey than these two, and therefore, those roster spots should rightfully belong to them. But consider that maybe they wouldn't have been cut if they were a little better at boxing.
Parents sue GTHL after sons cut by team [Toronto Star]
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