Growing movement seeks to remove 'midget' from Alta. sports leagues

Calls to remove term ‘midget’ from minor sports An association of little people is asking minor sports organizations to rename the age category known as midget. Shaun Frenette reports.

“The term “midget” has been part of age classification in sports for years. But an increasing number of people across Canada are looking to remove it from the sports vocabulary because they say it’s a derogatory term.

They include Teresa Saunders and her daughter, who both have dwarfism — a medical or genetic condition which stunts a person’s growth. The average adult with dwarfism is about 4 feet 10 inches or shorter.

Saunders told CTV Calgary she already has to deal with people, including children, pointing out her condition.

“I was at the mall the other day and I had two or three kids say ‘Mom, mom look at the midget,’” she said. “And of course they say it loud because they're excited and overwhelmed … and so everyone turns and looks at me."

So while she can’t always change people’s reactions in public, she said it’s time for sports leagues to use other words to describe a teenage classification in sports.

The term “midget” is commonly used for athletes in hockey, football and lacrosse between the ages of 15 and 17.

The Association of Little People of Alberta is urging sports organizations to stop using the term, which they describe as derogatory.

The association’s spokesperson, Taylor Loewen, told CTV Calgary it’s an “an offensive term” with negative historical connotations.

“It's not a medical term. It used to kind of be for freak shows, P.T. Barnum and the circus,” he said, referencing the travelling circus which ran from 1871 to 2017.

Loewen loves hockey and said he just wants to feel respected.

“I'm a huge hockey fan … all we really want to do is change the name of the one age classification,” he said.

Hockey Alberta sent a statement to CTV Calgary and noted it had “become aware of this discussion in recent weeks.”

"In hockey, all terminology for age divisions are national regulations,” it read. “Hockey Alberta will be working with Hockey Canada and our fellow branches across the country to start the discussion regarding the terminology in our sport."

If the league follows through on the name change, it would be following the lead of several basketball leagues in Ontario which have pledged to stop using the term next season.

Other organizations which are no longer using “midget” as an age category include Ontario Baseball, the International Ice Hockey Federation and the American Hockey Federation. A year ago, Calgary Midget Football changed its name to the Calgary Spring Football Association.

The impact could be significant. Saunders said she, her daughter and other people with dwarfism would be less subjected to hearing the term.

“If the kids aren't exposed to the word, they probably won't use it,” she said.