The American author and social critic James Baldwin once said: “If I love you, I have to make you conscious of the things that you do not see.”

British ice hockey, we need to talk.

This has been a painful week. For me, and for you. Though from what I’ve read and watched, it seems you’re not aware of it.

On Monday I visited TheHockeyForum.com to check in on the latest scores and talking points from around the scene. I was met with a 16-page thread titled, ”Steelers announcer brands same sex kiss-cam ‘disgusting.’”

At the time of writing, that thread has expanded to 28 pages. Teen Vogue is the latest name to publicly share their outrage, social media is in a frenzy, and yet you still can’t see the blood gushing from your own self-inflicted wounds.

The owner of Saturday night’s comments can’t see it. The owner of the Sheffield Steelers can’t see it. And the hierarchy of the Elite league can’t see it. How else can the response from all three over the past week be explained?

Saturday March 4th was the eighth time (that I’m aware of) that David Simms has publicly made homophobic comments. Eighth. No, really. Look.

Before all of that, in 2011 Simms was given a final warning by the Elite league after another insult over Sheffield’s PA system directed at “them bastards from Nottingham” was posted on YouTube. And this man was allowed to be the voice of British ice hockey on Sky Sports?

David Simms alone is not the problem. The Steelers’ and the Elite league’s handing of this latest punch-in-the-face is alone not the problem.

Our sport has the highest-attended indoor sports league in the UK, and the fourth-most attended of all sports leagues behind only football, rugby and cricket (just). Rinks routinely fill up any time a reality television program features ice skating.

Yet our sport can’t be found in the mainstream media. Major sports equipment manufactures and big-name sponsors aren’t lining up to be affiliated with our scene. Our young talents aren’t going on to lucrative careers in the world’s top professional leagues. And our national teams don’t play at a level that a nation of our size and wealth ought to be competing at.

Looking deeper, the events of the past week make sense.

British ice hockey has a culture problem. For the sport to progress, for interest in the sport to increase, for it to transition from minority to mainstream, positive changes are needed. In professionalism, in management, in awareness, in education, in safety, in marketing strategy, in match night experience, in media practices, in inclusion, and in equality.

Positive steps are being taken in many sections of our sport. The Cardiff Devils must be commended for their involvement in “You Can Play,” so too the Oxford City Stars for their community and media strategies. Other teams, players and officials are also striving for progression on and off the ice. The EIHA’s on-ice officiating department is another group that warrants special mention.

However it is clear that there is an accepted social norm for discrimination and unprofessionalism within our community. Simms has privatised his Twitter account after being called out, the EIHL remain silent aside from reposting the second of two nowhere-near-good-enough statements posted on the Steelers website — the first of which has since been removed.

Watching or participating in sport should a positive experience. We need to create an environment that is safe for everyone to enjoy and that those outside of our scene can respect. Facilitating inclusion for all must be a non-negotiable staple of British ice hockey.

By looking externally we can be inspired by how other sporting communities around the world love, care and hone their culture. By looking within we can see the many areas for improvement.

And it starts with cleaning up the trash that has been piling up since Saturday night in Sheffield.

I can’t stand by and watch it being swept under the carpet any longer.