Violence in Hockey - Assignment Example

On January 17, 2010, Sunday, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League marked a hideous, aggressive, brutal, and deliberate elbow violently given to the head of Mikael Tam of Quebec Ramparts who was smacked down to ice trembling and did not even breathe for 30 seconds. (Mahari, 2010) On January 2, 2009, Whitby Dunlops, a senior AAA hockey player, who was a defenseman, died after going through a severe coma for three weeks in Ontario, Canada. He hit his head on the ice when falling on it in an awkward manner whilst he was engaged in a fight and lost his helmet in a game in December 2008.

Hockey is one of the best games but these brutal acts are mitigating its fun. Headshots are basically attacks from one player to another and are just claimed to be part of the game. This discussion has always been part of the sports world and is still prevalent. Players’ helmets’ should be fastened and should be part of safety precaution. (Mahari, 2010) Violence has been part of hockey’s culture for decades now. Fightings have been part of the game and so is the approval of “good penalty”; officers’ disrespect, frightening behavior of players towards each other and anti-social role model behavior have been accepted as well.

Why is this well-accepted? Why have we made it part of our game and life when these are atrocious acts? (Pascall & White, 2000) As the game’s attractiveness changed over time an augmented exposure for redundant hostility, fighting and violence grew within the game. As an outcome, the cost of violence has been very severe in this sport. There have been incidents of concussion, head injury, and spinal disturbance. Athletes are frequently exposed to preventable and less severe injuries.

(Pascall & White, 2000) Headshot injuries should either be banned or completely eradicated from the game as a remedy for violence. The British Columbian government is trying to tackle this issue via the SPORTSafe Program.