Try To Guess How A Youth Hockey Team Used Water Bottles In Their Hazing Ritual

The Neepawa Natives are a Junior A team from Manitoba, and they have a very unique way of welcoming rookies to the squad. The CBC had a pair of whistleblowing parents on yesterday (in silhouette, because the MJHL is serious business), and they spilled the beans on a frank-and-beans-heavy tradition.

First up is the "Rookie Dance-Off", in which new players are "encouraged to dance to sexy music and remove their clothing." They (15- and 16-year olds) are scored by the team veterans (up to 20 years old) on their dancing and sexiness. Sounds completely normal for youth hockey, actually. But the stranger stuff is reserved for the rookies who lose their dance-off matches. Then it's time for "Tug."

Perhaps that ominous name gives you a hint where it's going. The poor dancers are held down by teammates and a full water bottle carrier is attached to a string "tied around their scrotum." The player must then drag it around the dressing room, and are scored on their endurance and presumably form.

So, yes, the Neepawa Natives got in trouble once word leaked out. They were fined $5000, and the ringleaders suspended for five games. Except the kid who blew the whistle was forced to apologize to his teammates, told by his coaches he should "take some time off for playing," and has already missed more games than the hazers. The first rule of Tug is that you do not talk about Tug.

Bottles tied to genitals in Manitoba hockey hazing [CBC] Manitoba hockey league won't talk about media reports of naked hazing [Canadian Press]