Should sports teams ditch the term 'midget'? This Brockville dad says yes

Jason Edgley of Brockville, Ont., has a step-son who loves sports, but the prospect of him joining the local "midget" hockey league makes the family cringe.

That's because Edgley's highly active step-son, Preston Ly, just happens to be a little person.

"When he hears the word, he kind of turns and he looks around just to see if anybody's looking. We know it affects him. We know that he knows the meaning ... and he doesn't like it. And it hurts us to wonder what he's feeling, actually, when that word is said," Edgley said.

That's why the family is applauding the Brockville Blazers Basketball Association for agreeing to end the use of the term to describe young players.

• Family overjoyed after Ontario basketball league stops using the term 'midget'
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• Little people advocates push to change 'midget' hockey name
• Will youth hockey in Canada get rid of traditional names like 'midget' and 'peewee'?

Now, the family is hoping the message will spread to other teams and sports organizations.

"This is hurting an actual person's feelings, it's hurting a group of people's feelings ... and it's not fair. The way I see it is, he's like everybody else. His heart ticks the way ours does, his blood is the same colour as ours, he has fire in his heart and he plays sports and does everything the same way that we do," Edgley told CBC Radio's Ontario Morning on Thursday.

"So he shouldn't have a division named after him. That's the way I see it."

Edgley said not everyone agrees, but people who know the family do.

"A lot of people are very supportive because they know us, and more importantly they know Preston. He's very active, he loves his sports, he's very competitive. You wouldn't know that Preston is three foot seven. He acts like he's six-foot-10 and bulletproof," he said.

"We're very proud of Preston and all of his accomplishments ... and he puts out 110 per cent in everything he does."

You can listen to the entire interview with Edgley below starting at 2:47.