An online petition to overturn a decision made by the Battlefords Minor Hockey Association (BMHA) to not allow its players to wear a badge on their jerseys honouring a dead player is steadily increasing in signatures.
CBC reports that the petition is in honour of 15-year old hockey player, Ash Lascelle who committed suicide in 2018. His friend and teammate, Konnor Snyder has been trying to honour his memory with a sticker he designed with his mom, Karla.
“It all start because I wanted something to honour Ash with. So I did stickers for helmets and then Ash’s midget team got badges that were the same idea of it, they were just for jerseys.”
The BMHA has ordered its players to remove the badges after this years hockey season. Snyder and his mom say that they don’t understand why the badges are not allowed.
“I just hope that we’re allowed to have those crests on our jerseys to support suicide awareness and Ash,” said Snyder.
They planned on wearing the badges for another three years, that would be the time Ash would have completed midget hockey. Karla says that the community support has been awesome so far and that she hasn’t heard any negativity surrounding the badges.
“To me, the kids need a voice in this, the kids are Battlefords minor hockey. They should have a voice, they should of been asked about the patches being put on those jerseys.”
The petition has over 2,000 signatures and counting.
The Goat Newsroom has reached out to BMHA and have not yet received a comment.Â