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| New rink to be ready by February By Mark Foyer--[ markf@hmbreview.com ] Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, January 16, 2008 1:31 PM PST Every day, as he is driven to Half Moon Bay High School, Tyler Olson looks at the construction work and gets excited. What was once a patch of grass north of Lewis Foster Drive is turning into the new roller hockey rink. If all goes well with the construction, the rink should be ready for games by late February, months ahead of the annual North Coast Hockey League season. "The more work that gets completed, the more that I have confidence that it will be done," said Olson, a freshman at the high school. Olson is one of nearly 100 Coastside youths who play in the roller hockey league. For the past 16 years, games were played on a rink at the Half Moon Bay Airport. Though the site served its purpose, it had run its course. "I was getting tired of the rink, with people tripping over the rocks," Olson said. Also, the rink was small, going 165 feet by 70 feet with 18-inch boards. The new rink checks in at 185 by 85, surrounded by an 8-foot wall. The first 31/2 inches is a board with the remainder Plexiglas. "Some of the squirts would fall out of the old rink," said Joel Farbstein of the NCHL Board of Directors. "But not with the new rink." The new rink itself has been on the Coastside for more than six years, according to Brian McNamara, another member of the NCHL's board. "We found the rink in Marina Del Rey," McNamara said. "Tim Richards brought the rink up here. It has been in storage in containers at Lazy H Ranch ever since." Since then board members have looked for a place to put the rink. Members of the Boys & Girls Club of the Coastside board heard of the hockey board's desire to have a new roller hockey rink and stepped in to help. "We all talked about a location for the rink," McNamara said. "They told us about a place at the high school. They made it happen for us." The rink itself cost $25,000 with another $100,000 needed to grade the land and build the facility. All that money was privately raised. Once the rink is up and running, organizers hope to host tournaments and bring in teams from other areas to play matches, in addition to having the summer league. "I can't wait until it gets done," Olson said. |