Winnipeg Youth Soccer Association examines policies after racist incident involving newcomers

A racist incident at a youth soccer game had a "profound and terribly negative impact" on some local immigrant and refugee youth, says the head of the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba.

In a statement that was sent to its members Friday, the Winnipeg Youth Soccer Association said it is building better policies and conduct expectations in response to the incident

The association declined to do an interview, or elaborate on the details of the incident, including when it happened.

But Dorota Blumczynska, the executive director of IRCOM, said the incident happened in June, and involved racist comments being hurled at members of their youth team.

She said the incident was profoundly hurtful and damaging to the youth, especially since the soccer field is a safe space for them where they can experience success regardless of language barriers or education levels.

"When they attack the young person's sense of themselves and their self-worth as a human being, it doesn't just harm them on the soccer field, it harms them in their life in their ability to overcome obstacles in school or in society," she said.

"It's lasting, and you can't take that back."

Blumczynska said this wasn't the first time the IRCOM team had experienced these kind of discriminatory comments, and that they had complained to WYSA about them. In this particular incident, however, a referee took down notes on what happened and reported it to the association, she said.

In the WYSAstatement, association president Daryl Lindsay stressed that the league will not tolerate this type of behaviour, and that members will be sanctioned if they do.

"Soccer is the world's game. We're privileged in Winnipeg to welcome so many players who have come here from other countries. They make our league and our city stronger," Lindsay wrote.

He also encouraged members to report any similar instances.

Blumczynska said she was glad to see the statement from WYSA go out to the soccer community, and hopes it's the first step toward putting policies and mechanisms in place to stop these incidents from happening again.

"There has to be very strongly worded policies zero tolerance and consequences, not just for players but for coaches and for clubs, because as much as we want to hold young people accountable for the words they speak we create the cultures in which it is OK to speak those words," she said.