A former University of Regina coach has been suspended from Athletics Canada following allegations of inappropriate conduct.
The complaints were made against Wade Huber and were filed with the officer of the Athletics Canada commissioner, who released an executive summary of the decision last week.
Huber was the head coach of the U of R’s Track and Field and Cross Country team from June 2015 to October 2022.
The allegations against Huber relate to his conduct involving several athletes he coached or had responsibility for and span nine years between March 2013 and July 2022.
Huber was suspended from his head coaching duties in September but was later terminated after an internal investigation by the University. Shortly after, Athletics Canada launched an investigation after a whistleblower filed a code of conduct complaint.
There were a total of six allegations brought against Huber, with three of them being dismissed by Commissioner Hugh Fraser.
The report found that Huber violated the 015 Athletics Canada Code of Conduct and Ethics when he demonstrated preferential treatment towards a group of female athletes on the team.
While he was found in violation, Fraser showed a bigger concern with the nature of the relationship that Huber had developed with the four female athletes he was closest to.
“These athletes would have been teenagers and young adults at the time, and the evidence of text message exchanges, late-night lengthy phone calls, asking them to babysit his children, becoming close with their families and visiting their homes for meals clearly blurs the lines between what is acceptable in a coach/athlete relationship and what is not.”
“These types of behaviours are discouraged in the current policy because they have the potential to cross into sexual behaviour. While there is no evidence before me to suggest that Mr. Huber’s behaviour had involved sexual misconduct, Athletics Canada’s Code of Conduct and policy outlines the danger of such conduct,” Fraser said.
Huber also violated Athletics Canada’s 2021 Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport.
One allegation says that Huber often commented about female athletes’ body parts and clothing, including bras.
The last allegations against Huber involved him taking an inappropriate photo of one of the female athletes that he was coaching.
“These findings should serve as another cautionary tale about the risk that coaches run when they become too close to their athletes,” Fraser said. “One can be a caring, effective and successful coach without crossing the boundaries that were crossed by the Respondent.”
Huber has been suspended indefinitely from participating in any program, practice, activity, event, or competition sanctioned by Athletics Canada or any of its members or affiliates.
He may apply to Athletics Canada to reinstate his membership after September 13, 2030.
