The two 160-by-75-foot street hockey rinks feature aluminum prefabricated dasher board systems, player benches, penalty boxes, scorekeeper boxes, chain length fencing, Mateflex sport court tile and scoreboards. The Town of Apex in partnership with the Hurricanes will offer try-hockey-for-free programming and organized league hockey, along with tournaments, camps, clinics and pick-up hockey.
On this sunny Saturday afternoon in Apex, about 200 kids took to the rinks to test their shooting skills, including middle school student Dominic Demicco. The 12-year-old plays AA travel hockey, but he showed up with some friends who are new to the game.
“There’s a lot of young kids here,” Dominic said. “Most kids I know don’t know how to skate, but they know how to rollerblade. It will probably have a pretty good impact.”
The Raleigh-Durham area will also soon be part of the NHL STREET program, a youth street hockey league for kids ages 6 to 16.
“Carolina is going to be one of our pilot markets to run a program in the next fiscal year,” said Sean Whyte, the senior director of the NHL’s IGF. “The way the Carolina Hurricanes have embraced the community and ball hockey itself is proof that this is going to be an amazing market to establish ball hockey.”
Hurricanes president Doug Warf brought a unique enthusiasm to the festivities. His early exposure to hockey included playing in the adult Raleigh Ball Hockey League, one of the groups that will play at the new facility.
“It’s the easiest way to get into the game,” Warf said. “Ice hockey can be challenging. It’s a high expense, and you’ve got to have ice availability. In our area, this is the easier way to play. The more rinks like this that we can put out, the more kids we can get to sample and try it.”
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