(image credit - CFJC Today)

By Michael Reeve

NEW ARENAS

Kamloops Minor Hockey bursting at the seams, in need of more ice

Feb 13, 2024 | 5:30 PM

KAMLOOPS — The City of Kamloops has not increased the number of sheets of ice in the community since the 1990s, when the then-Riverside Coliseum and now-Sandman Centre opened its doors. While the Olympic surface at MacArthur Island was built in the 2000s, it essentially replaced the Ice Box Arena on the Tk’emlups Reserve.

It’s in no way a new problem in Kamloops, but with some minor hockey players already not being able to practice due to a lack of ice, the need for another rink has reached a new level.

“It’s not only about the elite. It’s about development, it’s about kids. I know how great the game of hockey is not only just for sport… just like any other sport, what we want to try to do is grow kids into great people,” said Darryl Sydor, Player and Coach Development with Kamloops Minor Hockey.

With growing demand, the city has recognized a critical need for more sheets over the next decade.

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“The Recreation Master Plan identified that the city was currently at a deficit of two ice rinks and then ultimately four would be ideal to satisfy the demand over the next eight-to-12 years,” stated Parks and Civic Facilities Manger for Kamloops Jeff Putnam.

To that end, the Build Kamloops Committee has tasked city staff with finding a location and a plan for new facilities in the community.

“Long gone are the days of stand-alone, one-off facilities. Do I envision just a stand-alone rink being built in four different places or three different places? No. I envision many rinks being built together, not just one-offs. The efficiency and economies of scale when you start putting rinks together are significant,” said Committee Chair Mike O’Reilly.

O’Reilly noted while the performing arts centre is further ahead, the committee is focused on a number of needed additions to the city.

“Not just ice and performing arts centre. We have come out publicly and said we are looking at — in order — a performing arts centre, sheets of ice, a new curling centre, a seniors centre, soccer, an indoor soccer facility, and last and certainly not least, a new pool and that would be on the North Shore,” listed O’Reilly.

In addition to user groups already utilizing the community’s arenas, both O’Reilly and Sydor noted female hockey is on the rise, and the city isn’t currently in a place to respond.

“We have 1,300 members of Kamloops Minor Hockey, and now with this women’s league, the PWHL growing, we have girls who want to play but we can’t house them right now,” said Sydor.

The Build Kamloops work on new rinks is still in the early stages with no firm timeline on construction of a new sheet. That’s leaving some families to travel to places like Vernon or Kelowna — or even move all together.

“We have families that either uproot, take a second mortgage out and move on. Academies are expensive, but we don’t have the time for them, so it’s dire straits,” said Sydor.