Sport ‘needs to change,’ says Ontario minister as referee body-cam project begins for youth soccer

The “culture of sport has to change” and youth soccer officials should not be subject to “disgraceful” harassment while doing their jobs, says Ontario’s minister of sport.

After hearing of a new pilot project where soccer referees are donning body cameras to deter abuse, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport Neil Lumsden said: “Really? We have to go to that extent now to … make sure parents and fans on the perimeter of a field are not harassing officials?

“Let’s be clear … these officials aren’t always adults,” he said in the legislature. “They’re young people. They’ve decided to go get trained and participate … It’s disgraceful, it’s unnecessary and we have to stop it.”

Starting this month, Ontario Soccer is providing body cameras to referees, mainly in the under-nine and under-11 age groups, and will be able to call a time out if situations start to get out of hand, the Star’s Kerry Gillespie recently reported.

Lumsden, a Canadian Football League Hall of Famer who has also coached minor sports, said he recently spoke at a conference of sport officials and “afterwards I talked to their leadership group. I said, ‘What is the key problem for you now?’ He said, ‘We’re losing people from age, but we’re also losing young people, especially because of the harassment they’re getting on the sidelines.’

“The culture of sport has to change,” he added. “We can all effect it in a positive way because here’s the statement: Without officials, there are no games.”

The province needs 12,000 soccer referees but only has 4,950.

Other popular youth sports, such as hockey, are also struggling to attract and retain officials.

Conservative MPP Will Bouma (Brantford-Brant) said “all Ontarians who participate in sport deserve to have a safe and supportive environment. Sadly, we are seeing young girls and boys being discouraged by a few irresponsible spectators who intimidate them with abusive yelling. Any form of harassment is unacceptable and it must end.”

Bouma, speaking in the legislature, said he was “deeply concerned” to hear about the “alarming rate” of loss of referees, adding “this decline in numbers is due to the increasing prevalence of abuse toward referees.”

Kristin Rushowy is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @krushowy