HUNTINGTON BEACH : Hockey League Games Sidelined by Lack of Gear

Youngsters who play roller hockey at the city’s Oak View Community Center have one goal in mind: to compete in a league.

Holding them back is their inability to afford protective equipment, a requirement to play other teams.

“They have the skills, the potential, the ability to play. It’s the equipment they don’t have,” said recreation leader Ernie Hurtado, who oversees the roller hockey program.

Hurtado said most of the 5- to 16-year-old players come from families in the predominantly low-income Oak View neighborhood who can’t afford knee pads, helmets and padded shorts. Some can hardly afford the sticks.

He said the center has received some skate and equipment donations to keep the program going, but not enough to enter teams in competitive leagues.

Forty to 50 youngsters participate in games on the center’s outdoor concrete basketball court, using a plastic ball, instead of a puck, since most players lack protective equipment, Hurtado said. “I’ve never seen a sport grow so quickly here.”

Youngsters in the free Monday and Wednesday after-school program must provide their own skates, a luxury that keeps many others from playing, Hurtado said.

Ervin Obfenda, a 28-year-old local mail carrier and a roller and ice hockey player, coaches the youngsters.

Obfenda said the program helps keep youngsters out of gangs in a neighborhood that has one of the highest crime rates in the city. “It gives them something to do and they have fun doing it,” he said. “They can escape from what’s going on around them.”

Krista Valenzuela, whose 10-year-old son, Andre, plays, said the program also teaches youngsters teamwork and offers them a social outlet.

Andre just enjoys the sport for fun: “It makes me feel good. I like to play and score goals.”