Hockey Fans Score a Goal : Sports: Parents and players cheer Burbank’s decision to build a roller rink at a city park.

Burbank residents have won one for their kids with the recent City Council approval of a state-of-the-art roller hockey rink, complete with outdoor lighting, bleachers and a glider-smooth floor.

The $220,000 project, slated to open at Ralph Foy Park in May, will put an end to years of frustration among young roller hockey enthusiasts who have been kicked off the city’s public tennis courts, store parking lots and busy streets in their search for a smooth playing field.

Last year, a group of parents demanded that the city provide a safe and legal place for their kids to play the new sport.

“There was nowhere else to play,” said 14-year-old Jason Leos, a roller hockey fan and player. “We would play at a tennis court and the police would come and say we couldn’t play there but they wouldn’t tell us where else we could go.”

The YMCA tried a quick fix solution last summer by starting a roller hockey league and building a makeshift rink at the center’s parking lot.

“We started with 60 players our first season and now we have 200,” YMCA director Randy Lewis said. “We saw the need and we grew.”

Although the agency resurfaced the asphalt and put boards along the walls, the rink soon proved inadequate for the growing number of weekend players.

Residents and Lewis told city officials that their kids needed more. The Park and Recreation board responded with several proposals.

After a few false starts, including a proposal to build a more costly rink at Providencia Elementary School, officials turned to a city park site, according to Mary Alvord, park and recreation director.

The rink will be built between two 50-year-old oak trees at the park, located at 3200 W. Victory Blvd.

“The community loved it, including people who lived right across the street from the park,” Alvord said. “We picked the right location. It is almost like it was meant to be.”

The City Council liked the new spot too and gave the go-ahead earlier this month.

However, several city officials and council members voiced concern over investing more than $200,000 on a sport that may be a passing fad.

“I think we are paying too much money for a roller hockey rink,” said Councilman Ted McConkey. “And if the sport is as popular as people predict . . . this roller rink will not support them all when they come out to play.”

But parents are just happy the rink is being built.

Barry Winder, who is Jason’s father and a roller hockey coach at the YMCA, said the game has become a vehicle to spend time with his teen-age son.

“It is not only good for kids, it is good for adults too,” said Winder. “My son is at an age where it is really hard for teen-agers to spend time with their parents. This is one thing he and I can relate to and enjoy.”