Quebec minor hockey coach to sit out season for ordering push-ups after loss

MONTREAL – A Montreal-area minor league hockey coach who ordered his team to do push-ups after a loss will sit out the rest of the season, the hockey association’s president said Thursday.

Jean-Pierre Fortier said the disciplinary committee of Hockey Lac St-Louis recently decided to suspend Louis Isabella after learning he ordered his 11- and 12 year-old peewee AAA players to do push-ups following a 7-2 loss on Sept. 18.

“The committee said it was not the right thing to do, and it was a punishment, and that’s why they decided to suspend Mr. Isabella,” Fortier said.

The suspension is in place until May 2017.

Although media reports said the children were assigned hundreds of push-ups, Fortier said he was told the number was between 50 and 100.

He said the organization learned about the allegations through a report in Montreal La Presse.

Isabella had been previously removed from his functions until the committee could hold a disciplinary hearing.

Fortier said the organization isn’t necessarily against push-ups but it believes they shouldn’t be inflicted as a penalty.

“It’s appropriate as part of a training session, not as a punishment after a win or a loss,” he said.

The Lac St-Louis Lions are currently looking for another coach for the rest of the season.