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The Oshawa Generals have apologized after asking fans this week to shower before attending the team’s home games.
The situation first started producing social media chatter on Tuesday, after season ticket holders received an email with a hygiene reminder.
“If you went to the gym or did something that produced body odour, please shower before attending the game,” reads the email sent out by Jason Hickman, the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) team’s director of ticket sales and service.
CBC News has reached out to Hickman and the Oshawa Generals media spokesperson for comment.
In the same email, Hickman asked fans to use hand-sanitizing stations throughout the arena, cover coughs and sneezes, and “be mindful of personal cleanliness while sharing our space with fellow fans.”
“These small actions make a big difference in keeping our community healthy and our events running smoothly,” he wrote.
The team posted an apology statement on X, Instagram and Facebook on Thursday after sending fans an email asking them to shower before games. (Oshawa Generals/X)
The team issued an apology on social media on Thursday, which said, “it’s not our place to overstep like we did. We are sorry and hopefully we can wash this one off.”
Hickman told DurhamRegion.com Thursday that he gets a lot of complaints from fans “about the [person] next to them smelling like cat pee, bad breath, this, that and everything else.”
He told the news outlet that these complaints have increased over the last month.
‘Not a great look’ for Oshawa, fan says
In a city that some call “the Dirty ‘Shwa,” one fan said the Generals’ email plays into negative stereotypes.
Ashley has been attending Generals games since she was a child. CBC News is not using her full name because she works in an industry tied to the OHL and is concerned about speaking publicly.
While she’s not a season ticket holder, she said she thought the email was funny and she wasn’t personally offended. But she said the email drew extra attention because of Oshawa’s nickname.
“It just played into that … confirming that everyone in Oshawa is dirty and we have to be told to shower before we go to the game,” she said.
“It’s not a great look on Oshawa, but for me personally, I just laughed about that.”
Ashley said she hasn’t noticed bad smells at games before. She called the email a blunder for the team, saying they should have addressed odours by approaching people in person.
“[They should have] handled it in a more personal and human way, than in such a wide way that is going to offend so many different people and all the season ticket holders that you rely on to keep the team going,” she said.
Kyle Bichener, right, attends a few Generals games each year with his family. During a New Year’s Day matchup, he said a strong odour from a fan behind him made it difficult to focus on the game. (Submitted by Kyle Bichener)
Kyle Bichener, who also doesn’t have season tickets, takes his family to a few games throughout the year.
During a match on New Year’s Day, he recalled complaining to his wife about a strong odour coming from a fan sitting behind him. He said the smell was so overpowering that he didn’t even want to turn his head.
“It was all I could think about,” Bichener said. “It was kind of ruining my attention and focus on the game, and the time and money I spent to take my family out.”
He said he didn’t complain to staff, adding there could have been many reasons for the fan’s odour, such as a health condition.
While Bichener said he hasn’t encountered this issue at other games, he said he could see how season ticket holders attending regularly might experience it frequently.
He said the Generals’ email wasn’t a personal attack on Oshawa or the fans.
“They were ultimately addressing hygiene issues and keeping people healthy and safe within the arena,” he said.