Youth Hockey Coach Sentenced To 15 Days In Jail For Tripping Player

A youth hockey coach was sentenced to 15 days in jail for tripping a young player during a postgame handshake in a game last year.

Peewee coach Martin Tremblay was accused of sweeping the leg of an opposing player while the teams were lining up to shake hands after the game had finished, The Associated Press reported. His action actually caused two players to fall — a 10-year-old and a 13-year-old both tumbled to the ice.

According to The Star, Tremblay’s team had just won the gold medal in the tournament and were playing on their home ice. Though there weren’t many details about what led to the trip, it was reported that the 13-year-old may have injured his wrist on the fall. A team manager said at the time that the boy would have to wear a cast for two weeks.

The tripping incident was actually caught on video, and shortly after being uploaded to YouTube it went viral.

The coach’s league also spoke out against his actions.

“We certainly have expectations that all of our coaches will exhibit good sportsmanship and, certainly, would not injure and opposing players,” Bill Veenstra, president of the Vancouver Thunderbird Minor Hockey Association, told CTV News

The youth hockey coach pleaded guilty to the trip back in November, accepting on count of assault.

The judge in the case, Richmond provincial court Judge Patrick Chen, said he chose to sentence the youth hockey coach to jail time because he thought that Tremblay’s community service wasn’t enough to denounce or deter his actions.

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