Hockey parents will have to pass an online course if they want their children to play hockey next season.

Hockey parents will have to pass an online course if they want their children to play hockey next season.The NOHA (Northern Ontario Hockey Association) has adopted the Respect in Sport Parent Program, and it will be mandatory for hockey parents to take the online course aimed at empowering participants to recognize the signs of bullying, abuse, harassment and discrimination.Coaches, managers and trainers in Ontario have been required to be certified in the program for at least five years now, and the OHF (Ontario Hockey Federation) is one of the last to roll the program out for parents.“This has been introduced in many branches across Canada, the OHF is actually one of the last to implement it,” said Jason Marchand, executive director, NOHA.“In the end, it's about education, and it's not saying that hockey parents are bad, but it's about empowering parents who see negative behaviour to deal with it rather than just being bystanders.”The online course takes roughly one hour to complete and is offered in both English and French.Roughly 10,000 children are registered in the NOHA, and parents of all children from initiation up to Midget and from house league to AAA will be required to complete the course.The number of parents however who will have to go through the online program will be lower, as the Respect in Sport online modules are a shared access program.“One of the good things about the program is that if you register for yourself, you can share your access with someone else, so whether it be sharing it with mom or grandma and grandpa,” said Marchand.“This won't grant them certification but the information can be viewed and shared.”The roll out of the program will be gradual and the NOHA is working with all of its minor hockey associations like the GNML, NOHL and other leagues in the Greater Sudbury area to get the message out in advance of next season.“The Respect in Sport Program has been discussed within the NOHA since the summit hosted in 2011 and we are very pleased to see this worthwhile program integrated into our programming across the North beginning next season,” said John Jamieson, president of the NOHA.“The NOHA board of directors recognizes the importance of parent education and we firmly believe that this will support a more postive environment around rinks in Northern Ontario.”For more information on the implementation plan, including information on registration and other frequently asked questions, visit www.noha-hockey.com