iStockphoto / Oleksii Liskonih
The International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament is set to take place in Quebec City beginning on February 12th and run for 11 days and prior to the prestigious tournament Quebec officials are begging people to not boo American kids. This comes after Canadian NBA and NHL fans have been booing during the US National Anthem following President Donald Trump’s tariff announcements despite the tariffs being put on hold.
Many are quick to say ‘they are not booing the kids, they are booing the US National Anthem’ which is true in principle but not in practice. The reality of the situation is there are groups of American athletes standing for the National Anthem as boos are rained down upon them and in this instance, if the crowd opts to boo, it will be a group of children playing hockey hearing the boos from Canadians.
As first reported by The Canadian Press News, Quebec City mayor Bruno Marchand (no relation) held a press conference where he empathized with the Canadians booing during the ceremonial singing of U.S. National Anthem, saying he understands “the desire” to send a message to President Trump in response to the tariffs. However, he believes that little kids shouldn’t be booed due to the actions of politicians.
Quebec City mayor Bruno Marchand said “Booing peewees, going after people who come here to visit, to spend money here in our restaurants, our hotels, our events, would be a very bad idea.”
He went on to add that “Donald Trump is not the Americans, and the Americans are not Donald Trump” while reiterating that Quebec City BADLY needs tourism to thrive and they want Americans to feel welcome there.
The Quebecois minister who oversees sports, Isabelle Charest, said that “young hockey players have nothing to do with what President Trump wants to put in place.” And the GM of the International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament, Patrick Dom, added “Quebec City is a very friendly city, everybody loves everybody here. There’s no need to mix up the political climate between Canada and the U.S. and minor hockey, and especially the kids coming from the U.S.”
This comes after a 15-year-old girl was mercilessly booed by Toronto Raptors fans and later spoke out about her experience:
In Quebec’s International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament the players are 11-12 years old. They’re not even teenagers yet. But they’re old enough to know how the world works. And at that age, they’re certainly old enough to have some semblance of patriotism toward wherever they’re from.
Should the boos come raining down on 11 and 12-year-old American kids by the hostile Canadians, I hope they can find a way to use it as motivation. Their team manager will certainly talk about that with the kids beforehand, but if they can hear the boos and use it as motivation to beat the Canadians that will be absolutely delicious from the perspective of an unabashed American fan, which I am.