Children
Hockey Needs to Be Played Clean and Fair
By Diana Robinson
Dec 5, 2007, 20:43

(NC)-Canadians overwhelming believe that hockey should be played strong, clean and fair, especially when children are involved. Yet, many believe that parents have become too aggressive at their children's hockey games.

A new national survey conducted by Harris Decima Research on behalf of Henkel Consumer Goods of Canada shows that Canadians are concerned about the state of the national pastime, especially when it comes to how children are playing the game. Today, Henkel launched a national contest to ask Canadian children and their parents what they think playing strong, clean and fair hockey means to them.

With almost half of Canadian households having a hockey player in their house, 90 per cent of Canadians feel that it is important, especially for children, to play hockey fairly and cleanly. Most Canadians (97 per cent) believe that playing hockey should be fun for everyone involved and 93 per cent believe that there should be less emphasis on winning and more emphasis on good sportsmanship and playing fairly.

Parents too aggressive at games

Almost all Canadians - 97 per cent - feel that that there is no place for 'hockey rage' at children's games and that parents should be positive role models. But, 84 per cent of Canadians believe parents are becoming too aggressive and competitive when watching their children's games.

"We feel the survey indicates that Canada's national pastime could benefit from the country's youngest citizens explaining what it means to play hockey strongly, yet cleanly and fairly, both on and off the ice," said John Schofield, VP & Country Manager Henkel Consumer Goods Canada Inc.

"As supporters of hockey at many skill levels, we believe their input could provide important and insightful learning that we should all embrace."

What does it mean to play fair.play clean?

The Henkel Play Fair.Play Clean Contest runs until March 31, 2008. Canadians six to 16 years of age can team up with their parents or legal guardians, log onto www.henkelpowerplayers.ca and follow the on-screen instructions to submit an original essay of 250-500 words. The essay should simply and concisely outline what playing fair and clean hockey means to them.

Each month, a winner will be selected randomly from all entries to receive an MP3 Player. One grand prize winning team will receive a trip to Halifax, NS to see a World Hockey Tournament game in May 2008. And every child that enters will be helping another child to play hockey. Henkel will donate $5 through their corporate philanthropy program, Henkel Smile, to KidSportT for every essay entry that is received.

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