ANAHEIM : In-Line Skating Rink Is Nearly Complete

Construction is scheduled to be completed by Friday on a community in-line skating rink that will be the home of the Disney GOALS program for underprivileged children and the site of roller hockey leagues conducted by the Anaheim Family YMCA.

The $200,000 concrete, outdoor rink is at Anaheim Boulevard and Cerritos Avenue on property provided rent-free by Anaheim Indoor Market Place. Materials and labor were donated by a team of construction companies, with Disney Development Co. of Burbank serving as the project developer and McCarthy of Newport Beach being the general contractor.

A dedication ceremony for the rink is being planned for later this month. The YMCA expects to conduct roller hockey clinics at the new facility in December and start the leagues in January.

“The rink will be running from morning to night,” said YMCA executive director Todd Ament, adding that there is a “high demand” for roller hockey programs in Anaheim.

“We’ll continue our other leagues,” Ament said, “but now the biggest driving factor is hockey.”

David Wilk, executive director of the Disney GOALS (Growth Opportunities through Athletics, Learning and Service), called the collaborative effort to build the hockey rink “our most shining example of a giant partnership working for a common goal--helping the kids.”

Disney GOALS provides free recreational and educational activities for about 350 underprivileged youths from four neighborhoods in Anaheim. They are training on weekdays at the Disney Ice indoor skating complex in downtown Anaheim and will be at the new roller hockey rink from April through August.

“We want to keep different forms of hockey coming at the kids,” Wilk said.