Ryan Benoit is in many ways like any normal 13 year old boy. He lives in Val Caron with his parents, Mike and Joyce and he has two older brothers, Stephen, 15 and Jason, 18. 

He attends Grade 8 at Ecole Notre Dame de l'Esperance. His grade average is in the mid to upper 80's and his attitude towards school is very positive. His teachers refer to Ryan as one of their classroom leaders, always willing to lend a helping hand and always willing to take on new challenges. Ryan also loves public speaking and is getting along quite will on the computer. He enjoys fishing with his family in the summer and loves swimming. Ryan is also a "hockey nut" and knows just about everything there is to know about the sport. He is also eager to talk to anyone about the players and the game in general.

To look at Ryan in the photo above, he looks like any normal teen age boy. 

That is until you see him in a photo with the Right Honourable Paul Martin, former Prime Minister of Canada. Or, until you notice that he gets around in a wheelchair.

Ryan has cerebral palsy, a crippling disease which causes damage to the spinal cord during prenatal developmental stages. It has left him physically disabled - unable to walk and do many of the normal things we take for granted. 

Ryan was chosen to be one of the two Provincial Ambassadors for the Easter Seal Society. He and his partner, Kaitlyn Lenchak of Aurora, were introduced at the prestigious Con Smythe Fundraising Dinner & Auction on February 9, 2006 in Toronto. 

As official Ambassadors of the Easter Seal Society for the 2006 calendar year, both Ryan and Kaitlyn feel very honoured, but at the same time, they also realize the tremendous responsibility they have in representing the organization at various public functions during the year. Most of the functions are fund-raising in nature, designed to raise a lot of money which will be used to improve the quality of life for many others who are physically challenged.

In the photo to the left, he and Kaitlyn are shown with the Hon. Brian Tobin, former premier of the Province of Newfoundland and Belinda Stronack, M.P, Aurora, Newmarket District. They were all attending the recent Toronto Tribute.

Here, Ryan is shown with The Honourable Bob Rae, a former Premier of the Province of Ontario and one of the front-runners at the Federal Liberal leadership convention held recently.

Ryan and Kaitlyn are shown here with the Mayor of Toronto, David Miller.

Here Ryan is shown with singer Jack Soul. 

If you wish to read a previous story about Ryan that we featured earlier this year in Valley East Today, click here>>>>

Claude Chenier, owner of the Valley Plaza Barber Shop, is shown taking care of one of his clients while all other chairs in the establishment are filled. The Valley Plaza Barber Shop is one of the most popular hair care centres in Valley East, due in large part to the attention Claude, his wife Linda and their entire staff pay to customer service.

The Valley Plaza Barber Shop is always decorated according to the season, making this a welcome place to simply stop by and share some conversation with friends.

Check out the decorations next time you are in the Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre or call 969-4020 for an appointment.

FOR MORE PHOTOS >>>>

The president of the Greater Toronto Hockey League hopes it "won't be open season on coaches" following the decision in December not to jail a hockey parent for a violent, unprovoked attack on a volunteer coach on January 16, 2004 .

Bradley Desrocher received a $2000 fine, without jail, for choking coach Mark Tesky after the benching of Desrocher’s 8-year-old son.

Desrocher is still under a five-year ban that prohibits from from entering any arena where a GTHL game or practice is being held. The ban has three years to run and prohibits him from watching his son play hockey.

Described by Gardner as the worst act of assault on a minor league coach that Gardner has seen in the 25 years he has been involved in the GTHL, and the Crown was seeking a four-month jail term. Both Gardner and Hockey Canada President, Bob Nicholson wrote letters in support of the most severe sentence possible. Gardner and Nicholson are afraid that the court’s decision may discourage volunteers from coming forward to coach at the minor hockey level. Gardner praised the victim, Mark Teskey, for the courage to continue coaching.

Even Desrocher is remorseful and wishes he “could have those four seconds back” so that he could take a different approach in venting his frustration.

This wasn’t the first time there has been a violent outburst of rage that has resulted in physical assault. And it is clear that no one involved in hockey, or even anyone not directly involved in hockey would ever condone such an act of violence by a parent on a coach.

All that being said, it would appear, at least on the surface, as if the “root of the problem” is not being addressed. Rather than attack the judge for not taking the father away from his son and his family for a full four months, perhaps Gardner and Nicholson, as well as all other administrative and board members in minor hockey should reflect upon the situation and see if they can determine “why” a man would attack his son’s hockey coach.

Let’s look at the situation. Desrocher was upset over the recent death of his father. Apparently his father had suffered a heart attack in October 2004 and it had been several days before hospital officials were able to contact Desrocher to tell him his father was dead. We all understand how distressing it is to lose a parent, but in Desrocher’s case, he was denied the opportunity to be with his father during his final hours and as a result he went into a depression.

The family scheduled a trip to Mexico as part of a bereavement vacation. The Desrocher’s returned to Toronto early in the morning of January 16, 2005 . They got home at 4 a.m. after a 4 ½ hour flight delay. At his 8-year-old son’s request, Brad Desrocher got up in the morning and took his son to the 11:00 a.m. hockey game.

The court was told that at the game, Teskey, the coach of the Jr. Canadiens AAA minor atom team, informed Desrocher's son that he would bench him at the start because he had missed some practice time and had noticed that he wasn't focusing in the pre-game skate. Teskey wanted to tell the boy’s father about his decision, but Desrocher had left the dressing room before he got a chance.

Teskey benched the boy at the start of the game and as his rage built, Desrocher attached Teskey from behind and administered a choke-hold that caused the coach to black out momentarily.

"I only wish I had the opportunity to speak to the coach before the game, and this whole incident would never have happened," Desrocher explained.

As was mentioned early, there is no justification for the physical attack on the coach. That was absolutely wrong and was deserving of punishment. Desrocher must now pay a fine of $2000 and he is still banned from watching his 10 year-old son from playing hockey for another three years. Desrocher, his wife and his two sons have gone through two years of hell awaiting the trial and sentencing. The family has been put through a tremendous amount of stress.

Now, let’s look at the coach, Mark Teskey.

Who was Mark Teskey punishing when he made the decision to bench the 8-year-old Desrocher for missing a practice? The family had gone on a vacation to Mexico . Eight year-old boys cannot drive themselves to hockey practices. So who was being punished by the benching? To whom was Teskey trying to get the message?

If Mark Teskey was upset that the young boy had missed a practice, then it was Teskey’s responsibility to discuss the matter with the boy’s parents. It was Teskey’s responsibility to determine why the boy was not at practice and then to deal with the matter with the parent, who is ultimately responsible for making sure that players of that age are brought to practices and games. To say that Desrocher had left the dressing room before he had a chance to speak to him about the benching is not acceptable. Prior to punishing a child for the sins of his father (not making sure that his son attended a practice) it was paramount that Teskey seek out the parent and discuss the matter prior to the game.

Had Teskey initiated a discussion with Desrocher, he would have discovered that it was indeed remarkable that the boy was even at the game that morning, considering the long trip from Mexico . It would have explained why the boy wasn’t “focusing” during the pre-game skate. The boy was exhausted.

Minor Hockey coaches are volunteers. We all appreciate the time they put in and the work they do for our young boys and girls. But that doesn’t give them license to “abuse their positions”. It doesn’t meant that they can use their position coach to create situations and policies that are unfair and unreasonable to the children in their charge. It doesn’t make them immune from criticism and scrutiny simply because they are volunteers.

What Desrocher did was not only wrong, it was illegal, and he has paid a high price for his actions.

What Teskey did was also wrong, but it was not illegal. That is the difference between the two. That and the fact that Teskey attacked Desrocher by benching his son instead of using his fists.

Unfortunately, what Teskey did goes on all the time in hockey rinks across Canada every week. The Teskey’s of this world continue to do irreparable damage to young boys and girls by implementing policies and decisions that are absolutely “wrong” when it comes to dealing with impressionable young children such as the 8-year-old Desrocher who was benched for missing a practice and for his lack of focus during the pre-game skate.

Unfortunately, hockey organizations like the Greater Toronto Hockey League will continue to turn a blind eye to these types of practices because they are having difficulty attracting enough quality volunteers to run their teams. Let’s face it. Teskey is not running your normal run-of-the mill hockey club. He was coaching a ‘AAA’ Minor Atom hockey team filled with elite players who learn at a young age that the coach is in charge and it is not in your best interests to “rock the boat”. Teskey has passed all of the qualifications set out by Hockey Canada . He has been given this position over others who no doubt would have loved to be considered for the job of coaching a team in the Jr. Canadiens organization. And despite all of this training and certification, and despite all of his experience with young impressionable young hockey players, he still chose to punish an 8 year-old boy for missing a practice, when the person he should have been upset with was the boy’s father. The decision of the coach – wrong, but not illegal – was what caused this terrible incident. An incident that has torn a whole family apart for two years. An incident that would have been averted by taking 30 seconds to ask a simple question to the boy’s father before the game.

Desrocher has been taught a lesson by the courts. It is very serious to physically assault another human being. If you do so, expect to be punished, and expect your family to suffer the consequences of your actions.

Teskey has also been taught a lesson, and so have all others involved with minor sports. It is perfectly legal to create an “emotional assault” on another human being by punishing their child for something which the parent was responsible in the first place.

And so, as a final word, don’t worry Mr. Gardner. The decision by the judge won’t make it “open season” on your coaches. Just make sure you remind your coaches that they have accepted a tremendous responsibility when they go behind the bench with young boys and girls and tell them to think carefully before making decisions.

Unbelievably, a 38-year old father was charged with assaulting his 10-year old daughter after witnesses saw him grab her by the facemask and scream at her as she came off the ice at a minor hockey tournament on Sunday, September 14, 2003. He apparently was upset with her poor performance in the game and she was soon crying and acting terrified of her father.

The father was immediately banned from attending future games and the mother took the girl out of hockey to relieve some of the pressure and media attention.

The details of the game are relatively unimportant, however it was a tournament game between Pickering and Windsor in which both boys and girls played on the teams. The report didn't state on which team the girl played, however, it did point out that the family had recently moved from the United States so the child could play at a more competitive level of hockey.

While condemning the action of the father in this incident, it was also stated that this kind of thing is very rare in minor hockey. Several people at the game indicated that it was the worst display they had ever seen.

For the record, what the father did was inexcusable and he deserved everything he received as punishment. 

On the other hand, let's take a real good look at the incident and try to understand how we can avoid similar incidents in the future.

First of all, this writer has gone on record about how I feel about tournaments. To read the editorial on this topic, you can take a moment to click here. Tournaments are like mini-hockey seasons all condensed into three or four games over a two or three day period of time. By the time teams get into Sunday, every game is sudden-death, winner-goes on and loser goes home. 

This intensity is just too much for some people to take. Unfortunately, tournaments are often accompanied by alcohol which is enjoyed in between games. In addition, by the time you get into the final games of the tournament, you are playing the "best of the class" and it becomes increasingly difficult to win. Every move is scrutinized. Every mistake amplified. Every parent feels their spirit move into the body of their child and they feel the pressure. Some people explode. 

The 38 year-old man in this story did in fact explode and lose control of himself. Very much like the man in the story above who choked the coach. He and his daughter, as well as the rest of his family,  suffered severely from the public humiliation and pain. Now the entire family will suffer along with him for the rest of their lives. The girl will never forget the day her father was arrested and charged with assaulting her.

The saddest part of this whole incident apparently was the reaction of the young girl. She was terrified of her father and was crying while he was yelling at her. She was devastated, humiliated and obviously utterly upset about disappointing her father. How will she feel about going back into another game after that incident?

Yet, I have to wonder how many other children were brought to tears by their parents that weekend, or the following weekend, or on any given night of the week? 

I wonder how many other children have to suffer the humiliation of being yelled at and humiliated by their parents about their performance on the ice? 

How many tears are shed each night? Not just in Toronto, but also in Valley East and throughout the entire City of Greater Sudbury.

Many of those tears are shed in the privacy of the family car on the way home. Or in the privacy of the living room or bedroom where there is no where to escape. And no witnesses!

How many of these "hidden bullies" saw the newspaper report about the 38-year-old man and pointed fingers at the assaulter - condemning him to the most severe punishment possible? 

Did this man 'take the punishment' for thousands of other parents who are all guilty of "assaulting their children"?

It is frightening to imagine just how many  people are guilty of "verbally assaulting" their children this year? None of them will be charged, and yet, all of them will do damage to their children

The next time you feel like yelling at your child, remember the 38 year-old in this editorial. Take a look at the editorial about why the child quit hockey (click here). 

Whatever you do, get control of yourself and before you begin the "assault"ask if this is really what you want your child to remember.

   The staff of Neil’s Your Independent Grocers and The Vision Paper were welcomed with open arms by local residents as a group of 40 of them traveled through the streets on Thursday, December 14, 2006 in the First Annual Valley East Christmas Food Drive.
 
   “The people were just fantastic,” exclaimed Neil Lindenbach when describing the generousity of homeowners who were approached for donations of food. “In just over 2 and a half hours we collected about $6000 worth of food.”
 
   The food was divided up between the Good Neighbours Food Bank of Hanmer and St. Vincent de Paul of Val Caron.
 
   Everyone who made a donation during the evening food drive, or who made a donation right at Neil’s Independent Grocers, were given a ballot to enter into a draw for $250 in groceries. The winner will be picked at 2 p.m. on Saturday, December 23, 2006 . If you still wish to make a donation and enter the draw, you have until that time to do so.
 
   Besides the many volunteers and businesses who took part in the event, Neil would like to give special mention to Eva Lanctot, who made a single donation of $2000 to the cause.
 
   “This will definitely become an annual event for the store,” Neil commented. “However, we are going to take a look at holding the drive in July, as a sort of Christmas In July initiative in order to make sure that the food banks are stocked all year round.