Roller Hockey Facility

* Regarding San Juan Capistrano’s recent rejection of a roller hockey complex:

It will come as no surprise to me if all other efforts by supporters of any roller hockey facility will be met by the same fears, ignorance and selfishness that resulted in this thumbs-down, noses-up decision. My own town of Tustin killed off a roller hockey complex under similar circumstances.

Fogyism is alive and well in Orange County. The fastest-growing sport in America is roller hockey, and, if given more community support, it would quickly surpass most other recreational activities in youth participation. Proposals that it might be played quite late into the evenings are testimony to the sport’s popularity in the face of a dearth of suitable playing facilities, even in communities that have approved them.

We who live in this overdeveloped, anti-tax and seemingly youth-intolerant county need to recommit ourselves to providing safe and supervised recreational outlets for them--specifically for the newer sports they love.

PAUL A. GENSER

Santa Ana