Lewd texts, abuse and butt slaps: Ice skating’s dirty secrets exposed

Police in three states called in after shocking claims of abuse surface in Australian ice skating. JULIAN LINDEN reveals the sordid list of complaints as victims speak out.

Police in three states called in after shocking claims of abuse surface in Australian ice skating.

Police in at least three states have received formal written complaints about alleged misbehaviour of senior ice skating coaches and officials that is being covered up by adults wielding all the power.

Australian ice skating appears to be trapped in a death spiral, with senior officials resisting calls for an independent investigation into shocking allegations of abuse of teenage girls and boys.

One teenage skater alleges a coach regularly slapped her backside and a senior skating official phoned her mother and described her as a “home-wrecking slut”.

Participants are so exasperated by what has been going on under the surface that they are stepping forward in the hope the federal government or the police will clean things up.

So far, their pleas have fallen on deaf ears.

Ice Skating Australia and their state affiliations in NSW, Queensland and South Australia all declined to answer questions from this masthead about the sordid accusations that have been made against some of their coaches and officials.

But that doesn’t mean they are not deeply worried about the sequence of accusations.

This masthead has obtained a copy of a confidential email that ISA’s leaders sent to key members earlier this week after they privately approached Sport Integrity Australia to find out whether any anonymous reports into the sport were being investigated.

Brendan Kerry represented Australia at three Winter Olympics

Bound by privacy rules, SIA cannot disclose any complaints it receives but this masthead can confirm multiple participants have already filed reports to the government’s sporting watchdog and more are in the pipeline.

But that is just the tip of the iceberg, with many more people with grievances willing to share with investigators if they can be guaranteed the safety of a confidential and independent probe.

Already, some of the allegations that have surfaced are:

* Brendan Kerry, who carried the Australian flag at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, has been banned for life in the US over the alleged sexual misconduct involving a minor. Kerry is accused of having sexual intercourse with two teenage American girls, one without consent, and one who was a minor, while he was living and training in the US. A three-time Olympian, Kerry continues to fight the claims and has stepped down from his job as a coach at Sydney’s Macquarie Ice Rink while his appeal is ongoing. No criminal charges have been laid.

* South Australian skater James Min, a former junior national champion, has alleged he was groomed by a coach who is still employed and training underage skaters. In a posting on his Facebook page, Min said the alleged perpetrators were well known by skating authorities, who he claims have failed to act. “Those who are staying silent and are associated with these sick and twisted individuals are just as bad. And trust me they know the stories and are aware of what is happening behind closed doors,” he wrote.

The Macquarie Ice Rink

Two independent sources within skating confirmed the allegations were common knowledge among officials. It’s also understood a complaint was sent to South Australian police. The South Australian Ice Skating Association said it could not comment on individual cases but took all matters seriously. “The wellbeing of our members is of the utmost priority to SAISA. SAISA values integrity among all sporting bodies particularly regarding member protection.”

* Haylee Lucock, a talented teenage skater who trains in Sydney, has also lodged a formal complaint with ISA, SIA and NSW police about the alleged misbehaviour of a senior coach. In an eight-page letter, she alleged the coach verbally abused her, regularly slapped her and other young females on their backsides, sent lewd text messages to her private phone number and supplied her with medication. She further alleged that a senior skating official phoned her mother and described Lucock as a ‘home-wrecking slut”. Told to keep silent, Lucock, 18, said she decided to speak up so that other skaters wouldn’t experience what she went through. “I don’t want it to happen to another young girl, because I know that it’s happened to people before me,” she said.

“I feel like if they had maybe stood up and done something, it wouldn’t have happened to all of these other girls in a row, and it wouldn’t have happened to me. So I’m trying to stop it from happening to more girls because it’s not right.”

Sydney ice skater Haylee Lucock. Picture supplied

* A Queensland mother, who was a president and committee member of the state’s biggest rink for years, sent a formal complaint to police and skating authorities about a well-known male coach who was allegedly sending ‘dick pics” to young boys. According to the woman, a number of junior skaters also provided similar statements to Queensland police, but she claims skating authorities warned them not to say anything because the coach was “a good guy”. “Because there’s not a lot of funding in the sport, good people get chased out of the sport all the time if they speak up because it’s run like a cartel.”

* Skating is a notoriously expensive sport, especially for high-level participants who compete internationally. One mother of a talented skater raised concerns about the sleeping arrangements for junior skaters on overseas trips after discovering that teenage girls were sometimes paired in the same shared rooms with adolescent boys or their coaches to save money. Other parents have spoken out about the boozy culture in the sport, which one mother described as “grown adults bullying young children and parents jockeying for favour with coaches and officials. Anyone questioning the behaviour or ethics is gaslit.”

Brendan Kerry and Laura Peel carried the Australian flag at the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics

In response to the claims, the Australian Professional Skating Association says it would back an arbitrator to look into how the sport is run.

“The APSA Board would co-operate with any appropriately appointed independent investigation,” a spokesperson said.

Belinda Noonan, a multi-national champion who has worked for decades as an Olympic coach and television commentator and consultant to the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia, agrees that an urgent inquiry is needed.

“In light of the current circumstances surrounding Ice Skating Australia, which is an unfunded sport by the Australian Sports Commission, I would join those calling for an independent investigation of ISA’s governance, participant wellbeing and its finances,” Noonan said.

The alleged problems don’t stop with coaches.

Serious questions are also being asked about the concentration of power that leading officials seem to have.

Kerry continues to fight the allegations.

Last month, Noonan ran for the presidency of the NSWISA. She lost the vote but some members formally objected to the behaviour of a senior figure at the first annual general meeting in April.

At least eight people wrote letters of complaint to the NSWISA about the way the first AGM was conducted, while two board members immediately tendered their resignation in protest at the way things were handled at a reconvened AGM in May.

In one of the letters, seen by this masthead, a former board member described the proceedings as taking place in an “atmosphere of intimidation and disrespect”.

Another member said judges and officials were frightened of speaking out about any perceived conflicts of interest in fear they would not get selected to attend big events including the Winter Olympics.

Another board candidate, which this masthead has verified is an associate professor who specialises in ethics, withdrew her nomination because she was horrified at the lack of transparency and proper governance in the sport.

“Skating is meant to be a magical experience,” she said.

“But what I saw was nothing of the sort. Whenever people don’t feel safe to speak up, something is wrong.”