Randy Elson says it was his eight-year-old son's screams that first alerted him that his child was in distress.

Elson and his wife were at the arena in Wilkie, Sask., on Nov. 30, 2019, to watch three of their sons play in a Saturday series of minor hockey games between teams from Wilkie and Biggar.

He said he found his son coming into the rink from the outside, "crying hard enough that he couldn't catch his breath" and shaking snow off himself and out of his jacket.

In an online conversation, Jaleesa Elson told a representative of the minor hockey association that six boys had "beat up" her son.

Less than a week later, the Elsons would be informed their son and his brothers were being released by Wilkie Minor Hockey (WMH).

Not the first alleged bullying incident

The Elsons said their son was the victim of physical bullying in the rink on two previous occasions.

Jaleesa Elson said that earlier the same day, her son was allegedly thrown to the floor in the rink, giving him a goose egg and bruising on his forehead.

Randy said that, another time earlier the same month, he witnessed another player allegedly hook his son's skate with a stick, pulling him off his feet and causing him to land head-first on the ice.

Randy said he went near the ice surface and yelled: "Don't you ever do that to my f-----g son again!"

That led to a heated exchange between Randy and another man, he said.

Randy said he was suspended from the rink until he completed his Respect in Sport course and the Elsons were told the other man was also "written up."

Father confronts alleged bullies

After the Nov. 30 incident outside the rink, Randy said he witnessed some of the boys allegedly involved taunting his son while they were having a burger.

He said he tried to record the taunting on his phone, but they saw what he was doing and retreated to a washroom.

He said he followed the boys into the washroom and confronted them, recording the incident on his phone.

In a copy of a video the Elsons provided to CBC News, a man can be heard saying: "You guys got a problem? You guys are all on camera, so come and say what you got a problem with."

"You think it's funny to pick on my kid? Why don't you come out here and say something to me? What is your guys' problem?"

"Let's go talk to your guys' parents. Let's go. Everyone one of you. Let's go. Let's go. Show me who your parents are. Every one of you kids."

Randy said he ran into an official with Wilkie Minor Hockey shortly afterward.

Randy said he didn't like what he heard during the exchange, and emailed and called the Saskatchewan Hockey Association (SHA) that night with a complaint about the alleged response he received.

The board member did not respond to multiple requests by CBC News for comment.

No longer allowed to play

An email the Elsons received from the minor hockey association two days later said the SHA was now "highly involved" in the case and that the Elsons were "not to attend any Wilkie Minor Hockey functions or be present at the arena."

Jaleesa said later that week they received a letter from the association stating that their sons had been released.

When contacted by CBC News, the local minor hockey association declined to comment, referring questions to the SHA.

However, during an exchange of Facebook messages with a WMH board member before the boys' release, Jaleesa was told: "[Your] husband was . . . yelling at kids" and that "your kid is getting punished for your husband's actions."

In the exchange, Jaleesa Elson said: "They ganged up and beat the crap out of him. My son's not a fighter."

The Wilkie Minor Hockey statement of non-tolerance posted on the association's website. (Wilkie Minor Hockey)

In response, the board member said, "But you can't bring a whole hockey association down because 2 incidents happened and we are trying our best to deal with it. But your husband was out of line."

When Jaleesa said the boy that allegedly hurt her son earlier in the day should have faced consequences for it, the board member replied: "There's a difference between being picked on and being bullied. And Wilkie Minor Hockey is a great association. You can't talk down a whole hockey association because of two to three kids who pick on your child."

Jaleesa's response: "He is not being picked on. He was beat up. He has bruises. And lumps. That's more than picked on."

As part of the reply, the board member said: "I'm not saying the kids were right or what they did was right at all, but there was a better way of dealing with it," adding later: " . . . I get what the kids were doing to [your son] was wrong . . . " and "I'm not at all saying those kids should get away with what they did."

A photo of some bruising on Randy and Jaleesa Elson's 8-year-old son's hand after he was allegedly beaten by six boys outside the hockey rink in Wilkie, Sask. on Nov. 30. (Submitted by Jaleesa Elson)

During the exchange, Jaleesa shared photos of bruising on her son's forehead and hand, to which the board member responded: "I'll bring these to light. But any videos or anything you have to help the case I'd like to see."

Later in the Facebook conversation when Jaleesa said the alleged bullies pushed her son into the snow and started kicking him while he was on the ground, the board member responded: "No they didn't he willingly was wrestling with them."

Also in the online conversation, Jaleesa was told: "There's been nothing but drama since you guys have come here."

The board member referred CBC News to the SHA when contacted for comment.

Hockey dreams dashed

Jaleesa said her family had moved to the Wilkie area for this hockey season so that their three oldest sons, aged 4, 6 and 8, could play hockey in a community that didn't rely on natural ice.

"We heard lots of good things about this community and their hockey and we wanted that for the boys," she said, adding they had noticed Wilkie's showing in the Kraft Hockeyville competition (Wilkie was a top 4 finalist in the 2019 competition after finishing in the top 10 in 2017).

She said she's had difficulty explaining to her four-year-old, who she said dresses up in his gear and is constantly playing in the kitchen, why he can't play anymore.

"He's like, 'I just played my first game. I want to go again.' And so it's really hard," she said. "They're very heartbroken."

She said other people in the town, including the school and its teachers, have been "very welcoming and very great."

Randy said his bullied son has hardly been at school since the incident at the rink. He said the boy goes to school and comes home "because he's puking", which his father attributes to nerves since none of their other kids are sick.

According to the Elsons, they haven't been provided a reason for the association's decision.

Jaleesa said the SHA does have an appeal mechanism, but it costs $300 to launch an appeal. According to the SHA's website, the fee is refunded if the officer in charge of appeals determines that the proposed appeal does not qualify for a hearing.

Player releases don't require stated rationale

Kelly McClintock, the general manager of the SHA, declined to get into specifics about this case.

However, McClintock said registration is considered a privilege and not a right — adding minor hockey associations can release players without stating a reason, although he said the SHA encourages associations to explain the rationale to affected families.

He said if a parent is causing an issue, minor hockey associations in Saskatchewan will sometimes release their children.

"It causes so much stress on volunteers and people who are on the board of directors of that association — or the volunteers who are coaches — that it's caused a number of them to quit or reconsider even volunteering," he said.

He estimated it happens about nine or 10 times a year in Saskatchewan where minor hockey players are released because of the actions of their parents.

"[They say]: 'We're not going to accept your registration because we're losing volunteers. We're losing other kids who don't want to play,'" he said.

When asked what is done when the SHA determines that a family has a legitimate grievance that wasn't handled properly, McClintock said minor hockey associations are asked to re-evaluate what they've done, make sure they followed due process and provide documentation.

McClintock said he also relies on his contacts within the Saskatchewan hockey community that he has built up over his 25 years with the SHA.

"If I have an inkling of that I'm not getting the right story, I just make a few more phone calls, right?" he said. "And I think people know that. 'OK, Saskatchewan Hockey is calling. I better ante up here, the real stuff.'"

Family has questions

Randy Elson said his son doesn't understand what he did wrong, adding he has asked his son if he should have left it alone.

"He tells me no, that something definitely should have been said," he said. "But I didn't think they were going to kick him off the hockey team. Especially all three of my kids."

Randy said if "I did anything remotely wrong" he would be OK with them banning him from the rink.

"Go ahead, punish me all you want if I did something wrong," he said. "What did my kids do wrong? What does an eight-year-old do wrong by getting beat up?"