The Harbour City Lakers, in collaboration with Ringette Nova Scotia, is committed to creating a safe and inclusive environment for athletes, coaches, officials, volunteers and all other Ringette participants - an environment in which they will be free from abuse, harassment, bullying and discrimination.
The Harbour City Lakers require all volunteers over 18 with athlete contact to obtain their "Safe Sport" and "Understanding the Rule of Two" training. This includes all head coaches, assistant coaches, team managers, board members, and dressing room monitors .
Beginning in October 2024, HCL has implemented the requirement that parents and guardians must also begin to take the Safe Sport training with an expected full compliance by October 2025.
If you or someone you know has not felt safe while participating in ringette or ringette related activities, and would like to report a serious incident to the Harbour City Lakers, please contact Karen Hicks, President at hclrapresident@gmail.com.
The Abuse Free Sport Helpline is a national toll-free helpline offering assistance to victims or witnesses of harassment, abuse or discrimination in sport. The Abuse Free Sport Helpline is offered in partnership by the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada (SDRCC) and the Canadian Centre for Mental Health in Sport (CCMHS). A CCMHS team of practitioners with expertise in counselling, psychology and sport act as helpline operators.
The Abuse-Free Sport Helpline is free and available to all Canadians at all levels of sport.
If you have questions about maltreatment or discrimination in sport, professionally-trained operators will:
The Helpline is anonymous, confidential, and bilingual. It is open 7 days a week, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m (Eastern time) by telephone, text, live chat or email in both official languages.
The Canadian Sport Helpline is funded by Government of Canada.
The Responsible Coaching Movement (RCM) is a system-wide movement that is being led and coordinated by the Coaching Association of Canada and the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport. The Responsible Coaching Movement is a call to action for all Parents, Club Associations, Sports Organizations and Coaches to implement realistic change to ensure the health and safety of athletes is maintained on and off the ice, field or pool.
The first pillar of the Responsible Coaching Movement is the Rule of Two.
A safe sport environment ensures all coaches, staff, volunteers and administrators apply the Rule of Two. The purpose of the Rule of Two is to protect all parties (especially minors) in potentially vulnerable situations by ensuring that more than one adult is present during interactions between a coach and participants. When following the Rule of Two, all interactions and communications between a coach and participants take place in open, observable, and justifiable settings. Two responsible adults (coaches, parents, or screened volunteers) must be present with a participant at all times.
Rule of Two Infographic
The Rule of Two must be followed whether interactions tale place in-person or virtually.
Applying the Rule of Two in a Virtual Setting Infographic
Take the Understanding the Rule of Two eLearning Module.