BC lacrosse coach receives 18 months probation for assaulting a player

A Canadian lacrosse Hall of Famer and lacrosse coach from British Columbia was sentenced to 18 months’ probation for assaulting a player.

British Columbia Provincial Court Judge Nicholas Preovolos handed down his sentence to 59-year-old Rick Mang in Port Coquitlam on Wednesday.

RCMP told CBC News that Mang was charged in October 2023 with a sexual assault incident and an assault incident that occurred at a sports center the year before.

According to the British Columbia Crown Prosecution Service, Mang pleaded guilty to the lesser offense of assault following discussions between his defense team and Crown counsel. His lawyer declined to comment on the case.

The player attacked is a woman aged around 20 who cannot be identified due to a publication ban.

She told CBC News she reported what happened to her to prevent other athletes from suffering the same thing and to raise concerns about how sports organizations handle abuse complaints. In their case, delays by a BC association allowed Mang to remain accredited for months after his suspension.

“I was committed to protecting others, especially young female athletes,” the woman said. “Although they may never know my story and the battles I fought, I did it for them.”

According to an agreed statement of facts, the assault occurred when Mang and a group of players were gathered in a parking lot after a tournament in July 2022.

The court document says Mang was “visibly intoxicated” and gave the victim his credit card to pay for the pizza when his hands slid down her back and touched her “buttocks.” He also hugged the woman from the side and behind and stroked her breasts.

The statement of facts states that Mang called the young player “sugar,” “mom” and his “lacrosse wife” and made a comment about his “lacrosse stick” that the woman interpreted as a reference to his penis.

During part of his probation, Mang must adhere to a number of conditions, including a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew. He must also complete 40 hours of community service and a sex offender forensic program.

In ordering the latter, the judge noted that while Mang only pleaded guilty to assault, the offense was “sexual in nature.”

“If I could take that back, I would.”

In court on Wednesday, Mang apologized to his former player, saying: “If I could take that back, I would do it in a heartbeat.”

He said his behavior on the day of the attack was related to an alcohol problem he had in 2019 after the death of his 25-year-old son. He said he has been sober since September 2023.

Mang was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2017 as a goalkeeper. In a video recording of his speech, a solemn Mang can be seen walking to a podium and addressing the audience.

“I guess I’ll start by answering the question I’ve been asked most often throughout my career: Why would anyone ever choose to be a lacrosse goalie?” He asks the crowd to laugh.

“For me the answer was simple. I was the middle child in our family and starved for attention,” jokes Mang.

He began his career playing minor lacrosse in his hometown of Brampton, Ontario. Mang played with the Peterborough Maulers, where he won the Minto Cup in 1986, then moved west to BC to play in Senior A with Coquitlam.

He later moved to the New Westminster Salmonbellies and won the Mann Cup title with them in 1991 before returning to his hometown team in 1998 for another Mann Cup victory.

He then turned to senior B level management and coaching.

At the 2017 induction, master of ceremonies Dave Evans said Mang had forged “one of the most outstanding careers of any Western Lacrosse Association goalkeeper today.”

Suspended from coaching position

A BC Lacrosse Association (BCLA) coaching committee held a disciplinary hearing for Mang in August 2022. CBC News obtained a copy of the hearing’s results.

In it, the committee ordered the immediate revocation of Mang’s coaching qualifications and suspended him from “all” coaching activities with the BCLA until 2027.

It also said it would report the incident to the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame and recommend that Mang’s induction be reviewed.

“The concerning aspects for the committee were that an individual who is a member of the Lacrosse Hall of Fame and is highly respected in many ways within the lacrosse community was using that position of power and stature within lacrosse to engage in a campaign with “Involving a person who is significantly younger in promoting his own sexual innuendo,” the committee said.

Mang did not respond to repeated requests for comment through his lawyer or his Facebook account, which shows activity as recently as this month.

Complaint filed against BCLA

The woman who attacked Mang filed a formal complaint with Lacrosse Canada in June 2023, accusing the BCLA of being slow to implement its committee’s decisions.

When a third party responsible for resolving complaints was appointed to investigate, they agreed. In documents obtained by CBC News, the official noted that the BCLA “failed” to implement its disciplinary decision in a “timely manner.”

The official also noted that the BCLA did not notify the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame of Mang’s suspension until December 2022, four months after the decision. Lacrosse Canada did not learn of the suspension until it notified the BCLA of the incident in March 2023.

“It just seems like steps have been taken [BCLA] when pressured to do so by others. “This is a failure to act as a responsible sports association dealing with a matter of great importance to safe sport,” the complaint resolution officer wrote in his investigative report.

The BCLA’s “failures resulted in a continued unsafe sporting environment by allowing Rick Mang to remain accredited,” they added.

The BCLA paid a $1,500 fine to Lacrosse Canada’s safe sport budget, records show.

Mang is included in the list of national authorities List of disciplines suspended until August 16, 2027 due to the “Code of Conduct”.

The Lacrosse Hall of Fame told CBC News that Mang is still being inducted.

Marie-Claude Asselin, CEO of the organization responsible for Abuse-Free Sport – a program that works to combat abuse in sports in Canada – said it is important for sports organizations at different levels to communicate with each other to prevent this Disciplined people “go under”. the radar.”

“The lack of coordination is probably the biggest weakness in the system right now,” she told CBC News. “There are groups of people who do the right thing but don’t necessarily communicate with each other.”

BCLA “sincerely apologizes”

In an August 2023 letter obtained by CBC News, BCLA CEO Gerry Van Beek apologizes to the woman who attacked Mang.

“Please accept this sincere apology on behalf of our organization for mishandling your complaint regarding Coach Rick Mang’s inappropriate behavior and actions,” the letter read.

“Our actions fell far short of the standards set out in the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Combat Mistreatment in Sport and the standards we have set for our own organization,” it continued.

Van Beek declined interview requests from CBC News and refused to answer questions about the BCLA’s handling of Mang’s disciplinary decision, citing the court-ordered publication ban on the player’s name.

Speaking to CBC News, the woman said she hopes other athletes never have to experience what she did.

“I hope the BCLA learns something from the way they handled my case so that no one else has to face the same challenges and treatment they subjected me to.”