Hockey leagues and governing bodies have historically struggled to rein in racist and physical abuse.
In some cases, these groups will often discipline the player who is the victim of the abuse instead of the party who initiated it.
These types of uneven punishments were documented in the book I coauthored, Game Misconduct: Hockey’s Toxic Culture and How to Fix It.
Among hockey parents of color — especially Black hockey moms and dads — they often tell themselves and their children, “Not if. When,” regarding racist abuse.
Many times they find themselves having to explain racism to white league officials who have no idea what it’s like to be a person of color in hockey.
And communications issues often compound the issues these players face.
On October 30, 2024, USA Hockey posted an article praising the efforts of the California Amateur Hockey Association’s (CAHA) anti-bullying and inclusion programming. The article quotes CAHA President Tom Hancock saying:
“We feel that [CAHA’s anti-bullying and inclusion programming] is helping, but we’re still absolutely certain that it only gets better over time. It’s all about education and trying to nurture empathy. It’s really something as a collective board of directors in the state that we have completely embraced. Hopefully time will show that it really has made a difference.”
A week later, CAHA suspended Liam-Niko Robinson, then 12, a biracial (Black and Asian) defenseman for the California Heat, son of Eric and Emily Robinson, for the physical assault of a spectator.
The suspension letter, which is pasted below, states that Liam-Niko is “summarily suspended” by CAHA from all USA Hockey-sanctioned activities.
The letter omits any knowledge of the events that led Liam-Niko to the moment when CAHA suspended him.
In November 2024, according to the Robinsons, an opposing player on the Tampa Bay Crunch team called Liam-Niko a “ni**er” during a game in a Nashville area hockey tournament sponsored by CAN/AM. Liam-Niko engaged in a physical altercation with that player and was ejected from the game.
Later on, outside of the rink in the spectator area, Emily Robinson, Liam-Niko’s mother, was confronted by Kelly Nipper, the mother of one of the Crunch players, and the wife of Jeremy Nipper, a Crunch assistant coach.
Liam-Niko saw Kelly Nipper confront his mother and shoved her into the bleachers. Then an unidentified man grabbed Liam-Niko by his neck and threw him into the glass. Parents and rink officials attempted to regain control of the situation, but tensions escalated and the police were called.
Liam-Niko’s father, Eric Robinson, whose career background consists of expertise in de-escalation techniques and child welfare, assessed the situation.
He’s a Black man in the South trying to protect his family while trying to figure out what happened.
“At the end of the second [period], I see my son just start hauling off on a kid. And I’m like: ‘What’s going on? He’s a defenseman, but this is different. And so he gets ejected from the game,” Eric Robinson says. “He comes off the ice, he’s bawling, and I’m like: “Chin up. Let’s go to the locker room. We’ll handle this, and he says, the kid called me a n—-r. I said, Oh, okay, let’s turn around. Point out the kid who said it; he pointed the kid out. I said; ‘Okay, I’ll handle it after the game.”
Emily Robinson, like her husband, witnessed a different side of their son in that moment.
