Lacrosse News

Hall-of-Fame lacrosse coach Lyons of Halton Hills accused of verbally assaulting child

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.”
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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.