ANAHEIM : Disney Sets GOALS for Young Athletes

An ice hockey tournament in March, the launch of a roller hockey league in April and a job training program for the summer are among the activities planned for 1996 by the Disney GOALS program.

GOALS--Growth Opportunities through Athletics, Learning and Service--provides free recreational and educational offerings for nearly 350 underprivileged youth from four neighborhoods in Anaheim.

Dave Wilk, GOALS executive director, said the program has become increasingly popular since it began in August 1994, with about 40 youngsters from the Jeffrey-Lynne neighborhood. Participants’ ages range from 6 to 19.

“It’s been pretty solid growth,” Wilk said. “We may do additional expansion, but that’s a function of raising enough money.” Operating the program costs about $2,000 a child annually, he said.

GOALS participants are currently competing in an ice hockey league at Disney’s ice skating complex in downtown Anaheim, with playoffs set for March.

From April to August, the players will hone their roller hockey skills at a recently completed outdoor rink at Anaheim Indoor Market Place. Materials and labor for the $400,000 rink were donated by a group of construction companies.

Also planned is a summer tennis camp at GOALS’ new administrative headquarters--the former Tennisland site, at 1330 S. Walnut St., Anaheim. The property, owned by Disneyland, has a clubhouse and 10 tennis courts.

The warm-weather activities will include the job training program for GOALS participants 14 and older, Wilk said. The youths will learn how to maintain the administrative facility, repair equipment and take inventory.

“We think it’s real meaningful,” Wilk said, in preparing youngsters for paying jobs at retail stores and other businesses.

Information: (714) 956-4625.