A volunteer hockey coach in Windsor believes he should remain behind the bench, despite his criminal past.
Stanley 'Trent' Norris, who goes by Trent Norris, is a volunteer assistant coach of the Windsor Minor Hockey Association's Peewee Minor AA team.
In 2001, he was convicted of aggravated assault in Florida.
After learning about the conviction, some association members wanted Norris to be suspended pending an investigation and then resigned when the request was ignored.
Speaking on AM800's the Morning Drive, Norris says he passed the criminal background check because the conviction dates back 19 years — plus the conviction didn't involve children.
He adds the players and parents also want him to stay.
"The reason I think I should be allowed to stay on as a coach is the kids, the kids love me," he says. "I love them, the parents of our team, the ones who I am around want me to stay on the team."
Norris says he was a different person back in 2001 and hasn't had any problems, not even a speeding ticket, since then.
He adds the criminal background check also cleared him.
"Whether these charges were in Canada or U.S, I still would have passed the guidelines. The guidelines were if you have a charge against children, you can never coach, never, because it is a charge against children, I don't have that."
Norris says some of the player's parents asked him last year to coach.
"I didn't have to volunteer to do this, I knew by volunteering I would put myself out there, I didn't care, I own my past, I'm not that same person, I put myself in positions by then that I should never have put myself into."
He points out he is getting a lot of support in the arena and parents have told him to 'hang in there.'
"An older gentleman walked up to me and patted me on the back and said in hang in there, we are behind you, I had no idea who that was," he says.