At first, all Burnaby hockey mom Gloria Cooper wanted was an apology, and some accountability.
Riaz Noorani - the former coach of her son, Greg - had already admitted to behaviour which, in her view, intimidated, humiliated and singled out the 12-year-old defenceman.
Cooper and her husband, Sam, had already removed their son from the A2 Pee-Wee rep team Noorani coaches, and an incident report had been filed and processed by the Burnaby Minor Hockey Association.
But Cooper soon found out nothing else was going to be done, although there had been more than one incident involving her son and what she sees as Noorani's brash, confrontational coaching style.
After going through what they thought were the appropriate steps with Burnaby Minor, the Coopers eventually took the case to B.C. Hockey - the parent organization whose very explicit rules of conduct are supposed to be followed - who referred them back to Burnaby.
Months passed, but nothing happened.
Now, Greg is happily playing on a lower-level House team, but Cooper is still fuming.
"It's too late for an apology," she says, after seeing how Burnaby Minor failed to enforce B.C. Hockey's rules of conduct outlawing harassment and abuse.
And after seeing first-hand how the 47-year-old association seems to protect its own - from its executives on down - Cooper wants to make sure what happened to her son doesn't happen to anybody else's.
'THEY WON'T CRY'
Greg Cooper had been playing hockey for five years when the five-foot, 125-pound lad was selected for Noorani's rep team in September 2011 - no small feat for the growing boy.
But a high hit by Greg early in September was all it took to get into the coach's doghouse.
In the dressing room after the game, Noorani ordered Greg to stand up in front of his teammates. He asked another boy for his glove, put it on and cuffed Greg upside the head - the coach's first infraction of B.C. Hockey's policy on harassment, which clearly prohibits unwelcome physical contact, as well as humiliating someone in front of their peers.
Greg stood and took it, but left the arena in tears.
"Greg does whatever he can, so you don't think he's weak. It's a typical boy thing. They won't cry in front of you - they'll cry when you don't see them."
Cooper and her husband thought the incident could've been a "one-off" and didn't want to rock the boat.
Another game in Port Moody in early October saw Greg take another penalty. Noorani ordered him off the bench and told him to get dressed.
At the next morning's practice, Greg - on the advice of his parents - approached Noorani privately and asked him why he was being singled out.
After practice, Noorani ordered Greg to stand up in the dressing room and divulged their private matter. At that night's game, Greg was told he was sitting out, and didn't dress.
The Coopers understood Noorani carries two extra players on his team, but thought it was a bad message to send considering what had happened between Greg and Noorani at practice.
During an Oct. 16 game in North Vancouver, Greg lost his footing and a goal was scored. Again, Noorani sent him to wait outside a locked dressing-room door.
The Coopers asked the team's other parents what they had seen, and nobody could put their finger on it. They found their distraught son alone in the tunnel - the second time he had been left unsupervised, and a B.C. Hockey safety infraction.
That was it for the Coopers.
They arranged a coaches meeting for Oct. 19 to air their grievances with Noorani and Burnaby Minor hockey.
PAPERWORK
Gloria and Sam Cooper met with Noorani, Burnaby Minor president Paul Sidhu, vice-president Frank Boyle and two other coaches.
Noorani told the Coopers their son is polite, behaves well and has no issues with teammates. He confirmed he cuffed Greg and aired their private conversation in front of the team.
Noorani then went on to say Greg had been removed from the last game because he went "full out" with an "intent to injure" after falling on a two-on-one, which the Coopers thought was absurd.
"[Noorani] said, 'Your son is violent.' I said, 'Excuse me?'" said Gloria Cooper.
That was enough for the Coopers. They removed Greg from the team that same night, while filing a formal complaint.
President Paul Sidhu took notes and an incident report was signed the next day by manager Moe Velji.
"We regret Greg was left outside the dressing room alone . . . and will ensure this does not occur again," it read, in part.
But the report didn't address the other incidents, and Cooper wanted Noorani to be held accountable.
Numerous emails were sent to Sidhu, Burnaby executive director Larry Hayes and Velji.
Early November came around and Sidhu told the Coopers they were going to have to start from the beginning and file a new incident report.
She got in touch with Bonnie Cameron - a B.C. Hockey district director for the Lower Mainland - and while Cameron spoke to Sidhu about keeping her posted on the outcome, she deemed the issue one that should be handled by Burnaby Minor, as per policy.
The Province tried to reach Sidhu through repeated phone messages and emails over a period of several days but received no response.
COMPLAINTS COMMON
In a similar case in Vernon in 2009, Barry Petrachenko - the executive director for B.C. Hockey since 2000 - had to step in and suspend a Greater Vernon Minor Hockey Association team after the GVMHA mishandled a complaint lodged by a Bantam tier-2 player against his coach.
The players' parents had alleged to a local newspaper their son was being emotionally and verbally abused, and they wanted the coach removed. The GVMHA asked the player not to attend practices and games until the issue was resolved, contrary to Hockey Canada policies, Petrachenko said at the time.
After the GVMHA did not reinstate the player upon B.C. Hockey's recommendation, the situation intensified and two GVMHA officials resigned along with the bantam tier-2 team's coaching staff.
Petrachenko told The Province in a January interview he is aware of the Coopers' case and described it as "not unusual."
He says once a parent has exhausted their options at the local level - which the Coopers feel they have - an appeal can be made to B.C. Hockey.
Petrachenko says relationships among parents, players and coaches can break down in the highly charged atmosphere of Canadian minor hockey.
"Sometimes it's the coach's fault . . . and sometimes we do have a parent that doesn't see eye to eye with certain things," Petrachenko said. "At the end of the road, it means an adjustment has to be made that affects a young player that may or may not continue to play with a particular team."
The Coopers weren't looking to have Noorani and his coaching staff removed from the team. They just wanted answers, which they never got - not from Burnaby Minor, and not from B.C. Hockey.
The Coopers realized by January that B.C. Hockey was not going to step in and Noorani would face no reprimand - so they turned to the media.
When reached by The Province at his business in mid-January, Noorani said he was "not able to say a word" upon request of Burnaby Minor.
"If you really want to push this further, talk to the parents on the team - my parents."
'NO B.S. ABOUT HIM'
On Jan. 19, Noorani's rep squad, in their Avalanche-inspired jerseys, played a home game at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre - but it could've been Rogers Arena with U2 pumping from the loudspeaker as the kids hit the ice. The talent was exceptional, and the game hotly contested.
A boarding penalty was called on one of Noorani's players early on, and the coach - decked out all in black - called the ref over to defend his player.
At the game, two hockey moms spoke glowingly of their lightning rod for a coach.
"We are really happy with what Riaz has done with the team," one said.
Two Burnaby hockey dads with 18 years' experience between them stood behind the glass watching their sons skate.
"What Riaz is, is very frank," one said. "There's no B.S. about him. If you did something wrong, he'll tell you did something wrong."
The other father, who serves on the Burnaby girls' executive committee, said, "Our kids are 12, almost 13. You're going away from being a little kid and guess what? In life, people won't always tell you did a good job or not - they just won't tell you anything."
"You're gonna get disgruntled parents who think their son is going to the NHL and didn't get dealt with," he would go on to say.
Gloria and Sam Cooper say they don't have NHL aspirations for their son.
"We would like him to play to the best of his abilities and our son is capable of playing rep, and Riaz even said that. But not at the expense of being afraid to play," said Gloria.
'USED AS AN EXAMPLE'
"That's the first tactic of old minor hockey associations - no response," says Lou Mancini, a former coach at Burnaby Minor now coaching in New Westminster.
Mancini says he went through a conundrum similar to the Coopers' case a couple of years ago concerning the treatment of a player by another coach.
"I saw something abusive to another kid - not my kid - and I brought it to the attention of [Burnaby Minor], even B.C. Hockey, and at the end of the day, they don't respond."
Another coach, who's been active in Burnaby for a number of years, says the organization is too chummy to deal with their own.
"In Burnaby, I know this is fairly true. It's a pretty small world, where lots of friends are on the discipline committee or are president," he said. "Riaz is one of those guys. He picks perfect examples of players that fall in line." In his opinion, Greg was "a soldier strung up and used as an example."
Greg's new house league coach, Peter Upper, says he is a good kid who tries hard.
"He does like the contact and he does take penalties. That's part of being a defenceman," Upper said.
New rule changes coming to B.C. house leagues this September have banned hitting from the game, something Greg is going to have to get used to, says Upper.
"[Greg] hasn't been a problem at all. In fact, he's been a real benefit to the team."
Gloria Cooper says Greg hasn't been happier as a hockey player.
"Greg loves his new team. We don't care if he ever plays rep hockey again."
Click here to read more stories from The Province.
