Researcher Shows How Hockey Culture Impacts Emotional & Social Health of Players

A University of Lethbridge researcher has conducted the first Canadian study that measures the attitudes of young male hockey players towards male/female relationships as well as their social and emotional health.

The results indicate that both the on-ice and off-ice culture surrounding sports (in this instance, hockey) may have a dramatic, and often damaging, effect on their social, psychological and emotional health and well-being.

Dr. Alexis Peters, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology, studies the concept of �hypermasculinity� and argues that North American sporting practices which are organized around celebrating extreme masculinity encourage young men to engage in violence to self and others, repress their physical and emotional pain, and to deny their personal needs, often in favour of participating in team activities which promote a code of silence which prevents them from speaking out about issues which affect their overall health and well being.

As a nurse and kinesiologist I am well aware of the physical, psychological, social, intellectual, emotional and spiritual health benefits which can be gained from physical activity and sport, Peters said.

However, adults are putting so much pressure on young athletes to entertain us, to win at all cost, and to make the NHL, NBA, or Olympics, that sport participation may actually be having a negative impact on their development into responsible adults. My research is a sincere quest to ensure that elite athletes do not have their health and well-being forgotten by parents, coaches, fans and educators as they are growing up in a sporting system which may not promote their overall development as adults.

Her research focused on a group of Junior A players from the Ontario Hockey Association, aged 18 to 21, who completed seven separate questionnaires designed to measure their social health by assessing their attitudes towards male/female relationships.

Peters said, when compared to a control group of male non-athletes, the hockey players scored statistically significantly higher on questions which measured danger as exciting, violence as manly, and other categories which indicated that the players had developed callous attitudes towards sex, and accepted interpersonal violence as a way to solve conflicts. The players also scored lower on a scale which measured emotional empathy. Peters said her results suggest that at the very least it may be difficult for elite male hockey players to engage in mutually fulfilling male/female relationships.

Peters added that, while her research has met with a great deal of resistance from sports organizations, coaches, and parents she is particularly grateful for the co-operation received from the Ontario Hockey Association.

At a time when numerous sporting organizations were coming under scrutiny for allegations of violence, sexual abuse and sexual assault, only the OHA demonstrated a concern about the athletes health and well-being and were willing to take the risk of engaging in the study, regardless of the results. Their pro-active stance displayed true courage and a responsibility towards these young athletes, and for that they are to be commended.

A further complication Peters said many athletes face is the resistance they meet if they express a desire to leave the sport for any reason. It�s extremely difficult for elite athletes to tell parents, coaches, teamates, friends or fans they don�t want to continue. They feel they will let the team down and disappoint the people who have invested so much time and money in them.

Peters said since many people from the outside think the life of an elite athlete is a glamorous and privileged lifestyle, there is the fear on the athlete�s part that giving the sport up is seen as a bad decision.

Many players have been in the sport since they were five years old, so their self-esteem, identity and friendships are largely defined by the sport they play. They are a hockey player or athlete first, and this is extremely difficult for them to give up.

Are there solutions? Peters said following through on -- and expanding -- some of her research results is one place to start but extremely difficult to do as so many people resist the notion that there may be a dark side to elite sport.

We must implement an ethic of care to sport so child athletes can learn respect for their bodies, limits to playing through pain and that repressing their emotions is unhealthy, Peters said. The focus should be on pursuit of excellence in terms of mastery of skills -- in any sport -- and not a win at all cost attitude.

Peters added that zero-tolerance to hazing, degrading locker room talk and heckling and verbal abuse by fans must be enforced, and respect for opponents and their skills must be encouraged.

In the scheme of things, it�s just a game, and we must bring the fun and play elements which are critical to child development, back to sport if we care about the overall health and well-being of our children and elite athletes. It is ethically questionable what adults are doing to children and adolescents in the name of sport.

Peters, who is also a Registered Nurse, stresses that her research project, which started while she was married to a semi-pro hockey player and culminated in a PhD dissertation at the University of Western Ontario, is not a campaign against elite sport, the sport of hockey or hockey players.

After witnessing the culture first hand and seeing the never ending athletic injuries and the toll this culture took on the overall health of so many of these young men, it became my passion to try to improve elite sport and in particular, the Canadian hockey system.

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Researcher Shows How Hockey Culture Impacts Emotional & Social Health of Players