The president Toronto Leaside Girls Hockey Association has released a statement which clarifies an email sent earlier about the touching of players by coaches. In today’s statement, Jennifer Smith says the email about physical contact with players did not draw a clear enough distinction between hard and fast rules and guidelines. She says: “We naturally understand that contact is part of the game. The idea is not to prevent reasonable celebrations and acts of positive encouragement, but to ensure these acts are appropriate and comfortable for everyone involved. We encourage coaches to consider that not all players welcome such contact equally. We also acknowledge that it is normal for volunteers to touch players in certain circumstances – e.g. helping with skates and helmets; assisting a young player on and off the bench; helping an injured player off the ice. The suggestion in the news media is that we have implemented a no contact policy. Please be assured that this is not the case.”