HUNTINGTON BEACH : Roller Hockey Arena Plan Draws Criticism

Roller hockey is gaining ground among the city’s youth, but apparently not with some people.

To accommodate the growing number of players, the city is assisting two local groups in building arenas.

Arenas are proposed by the Boys and Girls Clubs of Huntington Valley at McCallen Park, near Yorktown Avenue and Delaware Street, and at Wardlow School, 9191 Pioneer Drive, by Kid Connection, a nonprofit youth group.

The City Council has approved spending $9,000--from developer fees--to help the community organizations build their arenas. But opposition has mounted among some residents to build an arena at Wardlow School.

Residents believe the arena will add more traffic, noise and vandalism and that the site is already inundated with sports activities and recreation and day-care programs.

Jim Engle, community services deputy director, said placing a stop sign in front of the school, posting speed-limit and “caution children at play” signs and increasing enforcement to snag speeders are being examined to deal with traffic concerns.

There is no opposition to the McCallen Park arena, Engle said.

Chris Schneider, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club, said the club’s arena is expected to open by early next year.

Wardlow School is owned by Fountain Valley School District and a policy prohibits roller sports on school grounds. Trustees are tentatively scheduled to consider granting a waiver to the policy Nov. 17.

“Many of our kids are dying to play, but they can’t afford it,” said Tanya Grimes, Kid Connection executive director. “It would be such a shame to turn us down because they don’t want kids to skate on district property.”

Engle said the city would like to assist in building up to five hockey arenas.

“This is the fastest growing sport in the United States,” he said. “What the city wants to accomplish is to take the kids off the street and put them in a safe area to play.”