Lyons of Halton Hills accused of verbally assaulting child

Hall-of-Fame lacrosse coach Lyons of Halton Hills accused of verbally assaulting child
Sports Jun 27, 2017



Gord Lyons, head coach of the Halton Hills Tier I peewee Bulldogs’ box lacrosse team and assistant coach of the Jr. B squad. - Eamonn Maher-Metroland

A man whose 11-year-old son was allegedly verbally abused by a well-known Halton Hills Minor Lacrosse Association (HHMLA) coach says he’s still looking for answers nearly a month after an incident at the Mold-Masters SportsPlex.

The parent, who is not being named to protect the identity of the child, is not satisfied with the “two-week vacation” suspension given to Hall-of-Fame coach Gord Lyons of Georgetown following what witnesses have described as a lengthy profanity-laced tirade directed at the Tier I peewee-division player during a practice on May 30.

Wanting Lyons removed entirely from coaching is one of many concerns raised by the man and he is threatening legal action against a number of parties involved, yet his son is no longer playing on the team and Lyons continues to stand behind the bench.

The man said he met with HHMLA officials and representatives of the OLA shortly following the incident and was encouraged that the coach would be disciplined, but after waiting a week to hear any results, he received a one-sentence text saying that Lyons would be suspended for two weeks effective June 9.

“Does that mean (Lyons) admitted fault and he’s going to apologize? Is he going to anger management? Will there be policies put in place like they have with minor hockey where a liaison is there for situations like this? We got no response,” said the victim’s father, who has been the head coach of teams in the Halton Hills Minor Hockey Association (HHMHA) for the past six years.

“A person from the board asked me, ‘Why doesn’t your son go down and play on the Tier II team?’ And I said my son is the victim here. When are you people going to realize that? The organization has been completely dismissive of the whole scenario and what this has done to my son. He’s terrified of this man and we find it very offensive that whoever is in charge would think that the abused person would just walk back into the lion’s den like nothing happened, without anyone stepping in to say this isn’t right. My son is asking me every day, ‘What's going on? Have we made a mistake?’ He’s starting to question whether doing the right thing is doing the right thing.”

Neither Lyons, HHMLA president Blaine McCauley nor Ontario Lacrosse Association president Marion Ladouceur responded to requests for comment from the Independent & Free Press.

OLA Zone 10 rep Debbie Bennett-Costante did reply to an inquiry, stating:

“Although the Zone and the OLA were aware of the situation, this issue was dealt with at the club level, with the Halton Hills Minor Lacrosse Association,” she said in an email.

“If you have any questions they would have more fulsome answers than the Zone.”



Three parents who witnessed the incident passed on their accounts via email and those were obtained by the IFP. The parent of the child who was allegedly abused was not at the practice that evening, but rushed to the arena after being informed by another parent about the outburst, which apparently came without warning.

“Let me preface this note by saying that Coach Gord Lyons warned parents at the beginning of the season that his approach and coaching style was ‘old school’ and that on occasion, he would swear and curse,” the parent said on condition of anonymity, for fear of reprisal.

“The verbal outburst however on May 30, which lasted more than three minutes and included physical aggressive behaviour and every other word screamed was the F-bomb or equivalent, far exceeded the ‘occasional swear word.’ His message was derogatory and degrading to young players and in my opinion failed to motivate but rather put fear and intimidation into the minds of 10-12 year-old boys.”

“After (Lyons) finished admonishing the player, the practice continued,” another parent stated.

“Discussion among the parent group I spoke with immediately afterwards was unanimous. Because of the ferocity and the language used, all felt that this interaction between the coach and child player was appalling and highly inappropriate.”

The family had the option of asking for the boy’s release — meaning that he wouldn't be able to play again this season — or drop down to play for the Halton Hills Tier II team, which is what they reluctantly agreed to.

After waiting two weeks for a response from the OLA to inquire if in fact an appeal would be heard, the family did receive confirmation on Tuesday — a couple of hours after this article was published online — that an appeal could be filed with the provincial organization as a breach its Code of Conduct.

Lyons, 61, was one of the founding members of the HHMLA in 1999 and has coached youth teams for several years, serving as an assistant with the Jr. B Bulldogs in their run to a Founders Cup Canadian title in 2010. He played for the 1980 Mann Cup-champion Brampton Excelsiors and inducted into the Halton Hills Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.

The annual HHMLA house league Weekend of Champions tournament is named in his honour and took place this past weekend in Georgetown.

By John Jun 28 2017 4:16PM
I have a question for Shawn. Is it not true you told the parent the next day that the scene was horrific? That you encouraged him to push the issue given what happened? What happened to you and the other parents and your moment of sanity? Had it not been fleeting, Lyons would no longer be teaching children how to bully. Oh and play lacrosse. Can't forget that. They have a good team too so who cares about the rest right? Ugh.

By Benjamin Jun 28 2017 3:01PM
Stating there are 12 other sets of parents that would see things differently simply proves bullying has strength in numbers. It's staring parents in the face and they do nothing except make excuses. They are really just excusing their own lack of intelligence because this is an easy one. Shame on the parents that are ok subjecting their children to this man's behavior in the name of winning lacrosse games. If it was a physical assault, would it matter if they went undefeated all year? When do these adults protect their child? What is the line that has to be crossed before they say 'no way?' 12 sets of parents that are absolutely beyond stupid.

By John Jun 28 2017 12:40PM
To all those replying to this story please note you are standing up for a 61 year old man publicly berating an eleven year old boy. If you think that or the fourteen day suspension is adequate HHMLA is in worse shape than I believed. If any of the board members honestly think what they have done is appropriate I just hope they are not involved with children in a position of authority in their daily lives.

By John Jun 29 2017 8:47AM
If anyone wants to know why things like this happen and are tolerated it's because of the attitude in the post right below this one. When you have intellectually unsophisticated people making decisions that's what happens. It happened to his kid and he just laughed. Poor kid. The real problem is that you don't know what the problem is.

By Robert Jun 29 2017 5:21AM
I really don't see the point. The HHMLA suspended the coach. The that is not enough for the parents. They want Junior to get an apology. Anger management courses? Whats next? Suing for pain and suffering. This is a subjective issue. Mixed with protective parents. I sure do hope that hockey coach does not have charges brought against him from an ultra protective parent. My kid has been yelled at by Gordie and others over the years. We laughed about it. Not everyone agrees with your position. Lacrosse and the real world is a tough place. Have fun playing soccer. I heard every kid gets a trophy

By Mike Jun 28 2017 10:15PM
Where is the line of abuse drawn? Would the discussion be any different if the accusations of abuse were sexual and not verbal or psychological? I think this parent group might want to re evaluate what lessons they are are agreeing to let their children be taught and at what cost.

By Benjamin Jun 28 2017 6:14PM
Poor Gordie will get done in by his inability to treat children with decency and respect. You are completely out of touch with reality when you term a minutes long profanity laced tirade that includes calling an 11 year old a F....ing Ret..d. as simply yelling. That diminishes the bullying in an attempt to make an attack on a child palatable. Next you blame the parent for not wanting their child indoctrinated into the uber macho sports world where 'buck up and take it' is served in healthy doses. Gordie may be a good coach and have great knowledge of Lacrosse. He's also a bully. You're helping him by pretending it was less than it was.

By Linnea Jun 28 2017 5:32PM
If you're defending the coach think about how you would feel if your kid was verbally abused and was afraid that the right thing to do was really the right thing to do. Even though it's a competitive league, the kids should have fun and personally I don't think being yelled at with f-bombs every second word as "fun". I'm also 11 and in a competitive sport. If my coach started yelling or swearing at me, or anyone on my team, I wouldn't want to leave my friends to join a different team because of something that wasn't my fault. I don't think that 14 days of suspension is enough for the coach to learn his lesson. If he's acting that way around kids, does it really matter if he's in the hall of fame or not?

By Robert Jun 30 2017 2:09PM
You do not know me, so spare me the generalizations of my character. It is obvious he crossed the line. It was acknowledged and a suspension was given. No apology for junior, so hyper protective dad goes to the paper. You will show him who is boss. I'd laugh if some dad on his AE Thunder team pulled the same stunt.

By John Jun 29 2017 2:24PM
Yeah life is tough. On its own. People like Robert and Gordie make it tougher though. All because their ability to communicate has been stunted at some point. So too has the ability to recognize their own indecencies. Gordie acting like that in any workplace gets fired and arrested. Rage is never an acceptable form of expression when dealing with people, much less children. Robert doesn't know that and neither does Gordo.

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By John Jun 29 2017 1:51PM
This did not get washed away because of junior. This got washed away by Gord's actions you apparently think it is okay to call someone a F@#@ Ret@##. Do you still abide by the rule of thumb when picking a stick to beat your family members. Old fashioned coach does not mean being a bully and an ass. It means being respectful, holding kids accountable when they do not show to practice or show up late. When was it ever appropriate to curse and yell at a child for how they perform in sports; and yes real life is tough when was the last time someone yelled at you in front of all your co-workers and called you and F#@#$# Idiot.

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By Robert Jun 29 2017 1:02PM
The HHMLA SUSPENDED the coach. What more do you want? Criminal charges? A public flogging? I do not agree with the whole program but a ton of kids have nothing but good fondling memories of Gord and the others. Some of these people are now coaches themselves, with children in the HHMLA. Some got Lax scholarships. All learned lacrosse and life is tough. This is all washed away because poor Junior got yelled at and was not apologized to.

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By Linnea Jun 29 2017 9:29AM
I can't come to comprehend why some people don't understand why what Gordie did was wrong. Even though at the beginning of the season he said he might swear or curse, an f-bomb every second word is completely disregarding "the occasional swear or curse". No matter someone's age, they should never have to endure something like that, but speaking that way to an 11 year old boy! I didn't know it was even possible for someone to have the nerve to say something like that. To a kid.

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