Minor hockey hoping to ice racial, ethnic taunting

Minor hockey officials are calling on players, parents and coaches to confront racist taunting and ethnic slurs on the ice after a number ofrecent complaints involving playersin the Edmonton area.

"It's a matter of making sure... we have the right steps in place, that we're educating our athletes about what acceptable behavior is," said Mike Oleson with Hockey Alberta.

Parents of an 11-year-old St. Albert Pee-Wee player removed their son from hockey after he was accused of directing ethnic and racialslurs at two of his teammates.

Minor hockey officialsare also dealing a complaint about a Lethbridge midget player's remarks during a game in St. Albert.

Earlierthis season a Leduc player was suspended for 12 gamesfor similar reasons.

Oleson says his organization is dealing with the problem.

"We've had a few cases, coincidentally together," he said. "I think they've been managed well and certainly it just gives us a good chance to establish where we want to be with the game."

Hockey Alberta is making its Respect in Sport program mandatory for parents.