![\"Brooke](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/8d0f230086cf1bc00d1b57b435918793.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\nFor months, Brooke Wilfley raised concerns that the president of her local youth hockey\u00a0governing board\u00a0was using his position for profit.<\/p>\n
The Denver-area hockey mom discovered that the president, Randy Kanai, was secretly routing the Colorado Amateur Hockey Association\u2019s money through his private company.<\/p>\n
She\u00a0reported his\u00a0conflicts of interest\u00a0and mismanagement\u00a0to\u00a0everyone she could:\u00a0board members,\u00a0club directors, coaches\u00a0and\u00a0four\u00a0USA\u00a0Hockey\u00a0leaders\u00a0who oversee\u00a0the nonprofit.\u00a0Little was done.<\/p>\n
Then\u00a0in January 2023, Wilfley received a letter from the Colorado Amateur Hockey Association\u2019s\u00a0attorney. The\u00a0board, it said,\u00a0was launching an investigation.<\/p>\n
Into her.<\/p>\n
Seeking evidence of \u201clibelous and slanderous statements,\u201d the letter demanded Wilfley hand over two years of her emails, texts, calendars, phone\u00a0logs\u00a0and any other records of her conversations about the\u00a0Colorado Amateur Hockey Association\u2019s finances.\u00a0It\u00a0gave her\u00a021 days\u00a0to turn in\u00a0her\u00a0cellphones,\u00a0computers\u00a0and iPads\u00a0for a forensic review.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an important legal duty,\u201d the letter said, \u201cand failure to follow these instructions may subject you to discipline.\u201d<\/p>\n
She blew the whistle on youth hockey theft. Here\u2019s her club in action.<\/p>\n
1 of 5<\/p>\n
Brooke Wilfley, a hockey mom who runs a Denver-area hockey club and school, discovered conflicts of interests involving the Colorado Amateur Hockey Association president. When she reported them to the nonprofit board and USA Hockey, she experienced months of legal threats and retaliation.<\/p>\n
Whistleblower retaliation occurs in every industry.\u00a0But in\u00a0few\u00a0sectors is the threat more personal than in youth sports, where parents who speak up about corruption and financial exploitation risk repercussions not just for themselves, but for their children.<\/p>\n
Those fears\u00a0are acute in youth hockey, where across the country,\u00a0powerful rink operators, club\u00a0directors\u00a0and local governing body officials\u00a0control the pathways by which kids advance to the sport\u2019s highest stages. Many parents who suspect wrongdoing stay quiet out of fear\u00a0of\u00a0jeopardizing\u00a0their kids\u2019 opportunities. What some view as lax oversight from USA Hockey enables bad actors to flourish.<\/p>\n
For Wilfley, the ramifications of the Colorado Amateur Hockey Association\u2019s threats extended beyond her family. As the head of a Denver hockey academy and Tier I club \u2013 the top level of youth competition \u2013 dozens of parents entrusted her with their kids\u2019 futures. Formal discipline against her club or a libel and slander lawsuit could affect\u00a0those kids\u2019 ability to play.<\/p>\n
In the face of the Colorado Amateur Hockey Association\u2019s threats, Wilfley\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0back down. But it cost her: reputational damage, more than $100,000 in legal bills and three years\u00a0she\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0get back.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is what happens when you speak up,\u201d Wilfley told\u00a0USA\u00a0TODAY. \u201cYou get bullied. You get threatened.\u00a0They\u2019ll\u00a0hurt your kids.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would never wish this on anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n
Conflicts of interest<\/p>\n
Wilfley had never been a hockey fan. She\u00a0became immersed in\u00a0the sport\u00a0when her five kids fell in love with\u00a0it.<\/p>\n
A law school\u00a0grad\u00a0who specialized in child advocacy, she\u00a0saw how\u00a0high costs\u00a0and limited opportunities\u00a0caused kids to quit the sport or leave the state for better options. She looked for ways to keep kids playing close to home.<\/p>\n
She started a program that partnered with high schools to offer low-cost hockey lessons.<\/p>\n
When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down in-person learning in many schools, she opened Aces Sports Academy, an accredited school where\u00a0third to eighth graders\u00a0spend the mornings on ice and the rest of their days in class.<\/p>\n
In\u00a0early\u00a02022, she partnered with Okanagan Hockey\u00a0Group, a Canadian\u00a0youth\u00a0hockey program, to start a recreational team in Colorado.<\/p>\n
The Colorado Amateur Hockey Association,\u00a0the\u00a0regional USA Hockey governing body that regulates the sport in her state, sanctioned her programs. Kanai, its president since 2012, supported them \u2013 until\u00a0they became Tier I.<\/p>\n
Around the same time that Wilfley started her rec team,\u00a0the\u00a0Colorado Amateur Hockey Association announced its intent to strip the Colorado Springs Tigers, another local youth hockey club, of its Tier I status unless it fielded two more teams.\u00a0So\u00a0in April 2022,\u00a0Brian Copeland, the Tigers\u2019 president,\u00a0approached Wilfley\u00a0about\u00a0merging\u00a0their clubs.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Brooke Wilfley’s hockey team, Okanagan Hockey Colorado, practices at the Family Sports Ice Arena in Centennial, Colorado.<\/p>\n
Wilfley jumped at the opportunity.\u00a0Before ever playing a game,\u00a0her\u00a0club ascended to the most coveted echelon of youth hockey.\u00a0That\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0sit well with\u00a0Kanai and\u00a0some\u00a0other board members.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey never went through the\u00a0process to\u00a0formally apply. They just made it happen,” Kanai said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t like that she had found the back door.”<\/p>\n
Kanai responded\u00a0with a series of requirements that Wilfley felt unfairly\u00a0targeted\u00a0her club. He\u00a0announced\u00a0audits\u00a0of\u00a0a\u00a0“sampling\u201d of\u00a0clubs, including\u00a0hers.\u00a0He\u00a0made her restructure parts of her businesses. He\u00a0said\u00a0the\u00a0association\u00a0would honor her\u00a0club\u2019s\u00a0Tier I designation only if her players wear Tigers\u00a0jerseys and\u00a0play games\u00a0in Colorado Springs\u00a0\u2013 an hour\u00a0drive from Denver.<\/p>\n
Wilfley\u00a0spent thousands of dollars on new\u00a0uniforms\u00a0and\u00a0legal expenses,\u00a0only for Kanai to\u00a0announce the board\u2019s intent to eliminate one of the state\u2019s four Tier I licenses. Wilfley felt her club was on the chopping block.<\/p>\n
Suspecting\u00a0a personal or financial motive for his actions, Wilfley\u00a0scoured the nonprofit\u2019s\u00a0tax returns,\u00a0bylaws\u00a0and\u00a0individual\u00a0board members\u2019\u00a0business filings, searching for\u00a0conflicts of interest.<\/p>\n
She\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0find the\u00a0motive\u00a0she was looking for.\u00a0What she found\u00a0was even more troubling.<\/p>\n
She discovered a dozen for-profit companies and trade names registered\u00a0to\u00a0Kanai\u00a0that\u00a0matched the names of\u00a0Colorado Amateur Hockey Association\u00a0programs.\u00a0One called \u201cTeam Colorado\u201d\u00a0shared\u00a0the same name as\u00a0the\u00a0association\u2019s girls\u2019 hockey teams.\u00a0Others, like \u201cCO Hockey\u201d and \u201cRocky Mountain Sport Testing,\u201d\u00a0she recognized from the association\u2019s website and\u00a0payments\u00a0she had made for her\u00a0son\u2019s hockey camps.<\/p>\n
Wilfley\u00a0also found\u00a0that the association\u00a0had\u00a0not filed\u00a0tax returns or held annual\u00a0board\u00a0elections\u00a0in three years.<\/p>\n
Related investigation: Cash vanished from charity raffles at NHL, NBA games<\/a><\/p>\n Concerned that Kanai was profiting off his volunteer position, Wilfley in September 2022 reported\u00a0her findings to\u00a0USA Hockey\u00a0general counsel Casey Jorgensen and other top officials,\u00a0emails show.\u00a0But months passed,\u00a0and\u00a0little action was\u00a0taken.<\/p>\n That December, with\u00a0a\u00a0board\u00a0vote to potentially\u00a0eliminate\u00a0her\u00a0Tier I status\u00a0looming,\u00a0Wilfley hired an attorney\u00a0to\u00a0formally request\u00a0the\u00a0Colorado Amateur Hockey Association\u2019s\u00a0meeting minutes\u00a0and\u00a0internal\u00a0accounting\u00a0records\u00a0\u2013 as is her right under state law \u2013\u00a0including\u00a0all\u00a0its transactions\u00a0with Kanai\u2019s companies.\u00a0She also demanded proper board elections be held.<\/p>\n That\u2019s\u00a0when\u00a0Wilfley\u00a0received\u00a0the\u00a0letter from the Colorado Amateur Hockey Association’s general counsel, Peter Schaffer.\u00a0Its title: \u201cNotice of Spoliation and Investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n After Brooke Wilfley raised concerns about conflicts of interest involving the Colorado Amateur Hockey Association president, she received a threatening letter from the association’s attorney.<\/p>\n Hockey mom fights retaliation<\/p>\n Wilfley knew\u00a0the demand\u00a0for her\u00a0private data\u00a0was\u00a0likely unlawful.\u00a0But waiting\u00a0for\u00a0the legal system\u00a0to play out\u00a0was a luxury she\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0have.<\/p>\n With the state championships weeks away, even interim disciplinary action against her\u00a0club\u00a0could\u00a0result\u00a0in her players\u2019 disqualification.\u00a0Defending herself from a libel or slander lawsuit \u2013 even a frivolous one \u2013 could cripple\u00a0her\u00a0businesses\u2019\u00a0and\u00a0family\u2019s\u00a0finances.<\/p>\n The Colorado Amateur Hockey Association threatened to discipline Brooke Wilfley’s program, Okanagan Hockey Colorado, if she refused to comply with its demand to turn in her personal electronic devices for its investigation. Disciplinary action could have prevented the players on her team from competing.<\/p>\n Days before the 21-day deadline to turn over her electronic devices for a \u201cforensic\u00a0accounting,\u201d Wilfley had not yet responded. Schaffer ratcheted up the pressure. By refusing to\u00a0comply, he wrote in a Feb. 9,\u00a02023,\u00a0email,\u00a0her\u00a0programs were now \u201cin violation\u201d of their USA Hockey member agreements.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will have no alternative,\u201d\u00a0his\u00a0email\u00a0said,\u00a0\u201cbut to commence disciplinary procedures.\u201d<\/p>\n Wilfley called a meeting to brief parents\u00a0on the situation.<\/p>\n \u201cI had to stand in front of those families and say, \u2018I\u2019m\u00a0so sorry. Your kids have been amazing this season, but I\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0know if\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0going to be allowed to compete\u00a0in the state\u00a0championships,\u2019\u201d\u00a0Wilfley said.<\/p>\n Meanwhile,\u00a0she\u00a0fought back.<\/p>\n She hired an outside accounting firm to scrutinize the Colorado Amateur Hockey Association\u2019s finances, based on the limited records Schaffer provided in response to her requests. The firm\u2019s report \u2013 which she sent to USA Hockey \u2013 found\u00a0six-figure\u00a0discrepancies\u00a0and\u00a0previously\u00a0undisclosed transactions with Kanai\u2019s companies.<\/p>\n The\u00a0day of the deadline, her attorney sent a lengthy response to Schaffer,\u00a0the association\u2019s board\u00a0members\u00a0and\u00a0Jorgensen, USA Hockey\u2019s legal counsel. It accused Kanai and Schaffer of whistleblower retaliation\u00a0and\u00a0violating the association\u2019s bylaws.\u00a0Wilfley reiterated her\u00a0concerns about Kanai\u2019s conflicts of interests\u00a0and\u00a0failures\u00a0to hold annual\u00a0elections\u00a0or\u00a0file tax returns\u00a0since 2019.<\/p>\n Finally,\u00a0five months after she first reported\u00a0her\u00a0concerns\u00a0to USA Hockey,\u00a0the national governing body intervened.<\/p>\n \u201cUSA Hockey is very concerned with the ongoing governance and operational issues within the Colorado Amateur Hockey Association,\u201d Jorgensen wrote in a Feb. 14, 2023, letter to Kanai.<\/p>\n USA Hockey\u00a0would\u00a0launch\u00a0its own investigation into the association\u2019s finances and compliance with\u00a0whistleblower\u00a0and conflict-of-interest policies, Jorgensen\u2019s letter said. It ordered\u00a0Kanai and Schaffer\u00a0to \u201cimmediately cease\u201d any disciplinary action against\u00a0Wilfley\u2019s program, adding that\u00a0they had no legal authority to demand\u00a0her records.<\/p>\n USA Hockey ultimately intervened to protect Wilfley and her team, Okanagan Hockey Colorado, from whistleblower retaliation by the Colorado Amateur Hockey Association’s board.<\/p>\n Two months later,\u00a0USA Hockey\u00a0hired\u00a0its own\u00a0outside accounting firm to forensically audit the Colorado Amateur Hockey Association\u2019s finances, based\u00a0in part\u00a0on\u00a0Wilfley\u2019s outside\u00a0firm\u2019s report.\u00a0USA Hockey President Mike Trimboli appointed three USA Hockey representatives to oversee\u00a0its\u00a0annual\u00a0board\u00a0election, which Kanai\u00a0had postponed with less than a day\u2019s notice.<\/p>\n The association\u2019s members voted Kanai out\u00a0of office\u00a0at\u00a0the rescheduled meeting\u00a0in May 2023\u00a0after more than a decade as president. His successor, Brian Smith \u2013 whose son plays for Wilfley\u2019s club \u2013\u00a0and the board moved to\u00a0fire Schaffer\u00a0days later.<\/p>\n USA Hockey in\u00a0July\u00a02023 suspended Kanai from all hockey activities\u00a0for refusing to\u00a0comply with\u00a0its audit.\u00a0The Colorado Amateur Hockey Association sued\u00a0him that\u00a0October,\u00a0accusing\u00a0him of stealing at least $180,000 of the\u00a0nonprofit\u2019s money by routing\u00a0it\u00a0through\u00a0one of\u00a0his private\u00a0companies \u2013 the\u00a0one\u00a0Wilfley discovered.<\/p>\n ‘Crazy hockey mom’<\/p>\n Kanai and Schaffer were gone from Colorado youth hockey. But their attacks on Wilfley continued.<\/p>\n They both\u00a0subpoenaed\u00a0Wilfley\u00a0as part of defamation lawsuits they filed against the Colorado Amateur Hockey Association and two of its new board members: Smith and\u00a0Bill Brierly, its executive vice president.\u00a0Schaffer filed a motion to hold Wilfley in contempt of court for refusing to comply.<\/p>\n Judges\u00a0ultimately quashed\u00a0the\u00a0subpoenas.\u00a0But Wilfley spent\u00a0tens of\u00a0thousands\u00a0of dollars\u00a0fighting them, she said\u00a0\u2013 money she\u00a0hasn\u2019t\u00a0gotten back, even after Schaffer dropped his case, and Kanai lost his.<\/p>\n Brooke Wilfley’s whistleblowing led to a lawsuit by the Colorado Amateur Hockey Association against its former president, Randy Kanai. In court, Kanai and his witnesses painted Wilfley as a crazy hockey parent.<\/p>\n The Colorado Amateur Hockey Association\u2019s lawsuit against Kanai went to a civil trial in April 2025 in Jefferson County District Court.\u00a0In\u00a0his\u00a0testimony, Kanai\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0deny profiting off his position\u00a0as president.\u00a0He argued he was allowed to do so.<\/p>\n He portrayed himself as the victim of a \u201csmear campaign\u201d by Wilfley.\u00a0In his testimony and\u00a0subsequent\u00a0interviews with USA TODAY, he\u00a0painted her as a parent so hellbent on getting a Tier I team for her kids that she orchestrated a plot to take him down.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u00a0weren\u2019t\u00a0happy with our decision on Tier I, so \u2018Hey, let\u2019s figure out what we can do to get these guys voted out,\u2019\u201d Kanai said. \u201cIt was all to influence the board vote, and they got what they wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n He acknowledged\u00a0in court\u00a0having \u201cno direct evidence\u201d of that.\u00a0Of the 10 people called to\u00a0testify,\u00a0she\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0one of them.\u00a0His other witnesses, however,\u00a0spent much of their time on the stand supporting his version of events.<\/p>\n \u201cShe wanted Tier I now, and that\u2019s when the attacks came,\u201d said Jason Schofield, Kanai\u2019s business partner\u00a0and a fellow board member\u00a0who also admitted\u00a0profiting $180,000 from Kanai\u2019s company, in an interview with USA TODAY after the trial.<\/p>\n Testified Schaffer:\u00a0\u201cNever before the Brooke Wilfley situation\u00a0were there any issues about the Colorado Amateur Hockey Association and finances.\u201d<\/p>\n Youth sports ‘crisis’: Congress addresses big business in youth sports. Can we fix it?<\/a><\/p>\n Judge Chantel\u00a0Contiguglia\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0buy it.\u00a0Her October 2025 ruling\u00a0found Kanai liable for\u00a0civil theft, unjust enrichment, conversion\u00a0and breach of fiduciary duty. She\u00a0ordered him to\u00a0repay the nonprofit\u00a0$579,000<\/a> \u2013\u00a0triple the amount he stole,\u00a0plus interest\u00a0\u2013 and\u00a0cover\u00a0its court costs and\u00a0attorney\u2019s fees.<\/p>\n The ruling \u2013 which Kanai appealed in November \u2013\u00a0vindicated Wilfley. Yet many in the Colorado hockey community still accept Kanai\u2019s version of events.\u00a0\u00a0The recent success of her teams \u2013 now among the top-ranked in the country \u2013 and the election of Smith, one of her player\u2019s fathers, as Kanai\u2019s successor as president only fueled those rumors.<\/p>\n \u201c’Crazy hockey mom’ is a really easy narrative,\u201d Wilfley said. \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0been three years of that. It just does not stop.\u201d<\/p>\n Better oversight needed<\/p>\n Wilfley is grateful to USA Hockey for intervening and\u00a0to\u00a0the Colorado Amateur Hockey Association\u2019s\u00a0new leadership for pursuing the\u00a0lawsuit against Kanai. But better oversight by both organizations\u2019 boards, she believes,\u00a0could have saved her many sleepless nights.<\/p>\n \u201cThe hardest thing for me is the toll it has taken on my family and the time,\u201d Wilfley said. \u201cI would go home and stay up at night worrying about all these other kids, just feeling like the rug was constantly being pulled out from under me.\u201d<\/p>\n Brooke Wilfley says she owed it to the kids in her hockey program to fight for their interests and continue asking questions in the face of retaliation and threats.<\/p>\n Conflicts of interest and financial exploitation are rampant in youth hockey, said\u00a0Brierly, the Colorado Amateur Hockey Association\u2019s executive vice president whom Schaffer sued for defamation\u00a0\u2013 a lawsuit Schaffer later dropped. Examining\u00a0business affiliations of\u00a0people who serve on the sport\u2019s regional\u00a0governing bodies\u00a0should fall on USA Hockey,\u00a0Brierly\u00a0said \u2013 not individual parents.<\/p>\n Brierly said\u00a0USA Hockey should\u00a0enact\u00a0better standards and controls to\u00a0identify\u00a0mismanagement and\u00a0abuses of power\u00a0in the sport long before they become\u00a0issues.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0expensive\u00a0enough to play hockey,\u201d\u00a0Brierly\u00a0said. \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0more expensive when\u00a0you’re\u00a0also paying opportunistic individuals who are trying to make a\u00a0dollar.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0something USA Hockey should protect people against, but they obviously\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0care about protecting parents from financial\u00a0abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n USA Hockey did not respond to requests for comment for this story.<\/p>\n After the trial, Schaffer told USA TODAY that\u00a0he\u00a0truly believed\u00a0he had the legal authority to demand access to Wilfley’s private records and electronic devices.\u00a0Sending her a notice of spoliation and investigation, he said, \u201cis the least level of aggression you can do.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0not guilty, they would\u00a0have\u00a0sent\u00a0it to us,\u201d\u00a0Schaffer\u00a0said. \u201cBut they fought us. As much as they fought, it just made me know that they were guilty because they\u00a0wouldn\u2019t\u00a0give it to us.\u201d<\/p>\n Kanai, for his part,\u00a0acknowledged\u00a0after the trial\u00a0that Wilfley\u2019s concerns\u00a0about\u00a0his\u00a0financial\u00a0entanglements\u00a0with the association\u00a0were\u00a0\u201clegitimate.\u201d\u00a0Still, he said he\u00a0and other board members, including his business partner, Schofield,\u00a0felt they had to\u00a0take action to\u00a0protect their\u00a0reputations\u00a0as rumors swirled.<\/p>\n “We were\u00a0pretty sure\u00a0there were slanderous and defamation comments in texts and emails going around, so we were trying to put a stop to it and\u00a0get evidence that that was truly going on,\u201d Kanai\u00a0told\u00a0USA TODAY.<\/p>\n \u201cDid we go too far?\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0debatable.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u00a0maintained\u00a0that every decision he\u00a0made\u00a0as\u00a0president\u00a0was\u00a0guided by\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0best for\u00a0the kids.<\/p>\n Kenny Jacoby is an investigative reporter for USA TODAY who covers issues in sports, higher education and law enforcement. Contact him by email at kjacoby@usatoday.com. Follow him on X\u00a0@kennyjacoby<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky\u00a0@kennyjacoby.bsky.social<\/a>.<\/p>\n This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Youth hockey theft exposed by a Colorado mom. Then came the threats.<\/a><\/p>\n![\"After](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/4fa70156e53fa049e80eaf912e1e758c.jpeg\"\/)
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