The hockey coach charged by Winnipeg police with 15 offences, including sexual assault and sexual exploitation, worked for multiple sports teams and in at least two Manitoba school divisions.
Madison Biluk was charged earlier this month in connection with what police called a sexually exploitative relationship between her and a player from 2019 to 2021.
Police said Biluk coached within the Hockey Manitoba organization from 2018-23, but would not provide further details about what teams she worked with and when.
The Winnipeg School Division confirmed Tuesday that Biluk worked as a sessional on-ice instructor at the Churchill Hockey Academy in October and November 2022.
A spokesperson for the division said while working in this position, “they were under the direction and programming of a teacher at all times.”
CBC News reported last week that Biluk returned to Manitoba to work in 2022, after spending the 2021-22 season as head coach of the U18 AA Rocky Mountain Raiders, based in Okotoks, Alta.
Biluk only coached for one season with that team.
CBC obtained a complaint letter from six families outlining coaching concerns that season, including some of Biluk’s behaviour.
In one case, the letter says, “during initial team overnight trip, Madi took players on fast food runs at 1 a.m. … and then set her alarm to take other players at 5 a.m.”
The letter also says Biluk was in contact with players on FaceTime.
The Okotoks Oilers Athletic Association and the Okotoks Minor Hockey Association have not responded to emails from CBC.
However, on Tuesday, the Okotoks Oilers Athletic Association posted a message online saying the complaint letter is in the hands of Hockey Canada’s independent third party.
“All information that the OMHA and OOAA have received regarding Madison Biluk, the former U18AA Raiders 2021-22 coach, including the parent complaint letter received after the season March ’22, has been submitted to the independent third party (ITP), the body that conducts investigations for Hockey Canada,” the message said.
Signy Arnason is the associate executive director at the Canadian Centre for Child Protection. (Jeff Stapleton/CBC)
Signy Arnason, associate executive director at the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, said in cases involving allegations of abuse, the priority should always be protecting the victim and considering there could be others.
She said that can include not publicly naming where an accused worked.
“Sometimes sharing detailed information publicly might not be in the best interest of those who have been harmed,” she said.
But there needs to be more transparency when concerns about potentially problematic behaviour arise, even when it doesn’t necessarily meet the threshold of something illegal having occurred, she said.
“There really should be a registry for this type of thing,” Arnason said.
“If you’re going to put someone in a position where they’re overseeing children, those who are vulnerable, underage, then, you know, you need to have the proper systems in place to ensure that kids are protected,” she said.
“We know that most of the conduct that’s inappropriate doesn’t hit a criminal threshold…. This isn’t just about sexual abuse, it’s also verbal abuse, emotional abuse.”
Arnason said there also needs to be more transparency around coaches who may have been suspended, disciplined or fired.
“That type of stuff actually does need to be transparently put out there, so that parents have the information,” she said.
Reference checks should be done and include questions about appropriate boundaries between the coach and athletes, Arnason said.
Parents also need to be made aware of where and how they can make complaints when an issue comes up, she said.
The spokesperson for the Winnipeg School Division told CBC all offers of employment in the division “are subject to the results of a criminal record check and vulnerable sector scan, plus a clear report from the child abuse registry.”
Biluk also worked in the Evergreen School Division.
CBC reported last week a letter from the Evergreen School Division to families said Biluk volunteered as a basketball coach at Gimli High School from 2014-20, completed a student-teaching practicum at that school in 2019-20 and worked as a substitute in the division for three days last year.
Biluk has also coached with two elite teams in Manitoba: the U18 AAA Winnipeg Ice and the Interlake Lightning female U18 AAA team.
Other charges against Biluk include sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching, luring, possessing child pornography and assault with a weapon.
None of the charges against Biluk have been proven in court. She was released with conditions following her arrest.
Hockey Manitoba and Hockey Winnipeg have declined interviews, citing the ongoing investigations by police and Hockey Canada’s independent third party.
A spokesperson for Hockey Canada would not comment on the specifics of the case, also citing the ongoing investigation.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
