Today is a different kind of a day.
I’m scheduled to be at Owen Sound Police Services at some point in order to be fingerprinted by the Department.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a police station for such a task, and lest anyone think that I’ve abandoned my lifestyle for a crime spree, the fingerprinting is part of the process involved in being a Minor Hockey coach.
After two years as an on ice volunteer with the Owen Sound Minor Hockey Group’s Initiation Program, I’ve taken the next step on the ladder and am listed as the Head Coach for the CUPE Local 443 Penguins.
The Penguins, who are 7 & 8 years of age, need a qualified coach who meets all the now-established criteria; long gone are the days when somebody’s father showed up and monitored the proceedings.
Now there are lengthy on-line courses, in-class clinics, on-ice sessions, police checks and the final step, the fingerprinting today.
Truthfully, it’s a bothersome sequence considering the extent of my ” coaching ” is to organize the next 5 Penguins to go out when the 3 minute buzzer sounds.
But what should be more bothersome, to everyone, is that these safety measures and precautions were ever needed in the first place, in Owen Sound and across the country
I’m Fred Wallace