Special to USAHockey.com
It’s a fixture in Phoenix, even though it might be hard for some to associate an ice arena with a large city in a warm climate environment.
But Arcadia Ice Arena has been around for 40 years, with Jim Rogers, the present general manager and owner, having been there for 25 years. He’s been working with the Valley of the Sun Hockey Association. The Arcadia arena features two popular adult leagues with an open rec league that plays for 18 weeks. There’s also an old-timers league that goes 6 a.m. to 8:40 a.m. every morning during the season.
“We’re hoping to bring a girls’ national championship this year,” said Rogers, who moved to Arizona as a young child. “They’ve beaten up on some teams so far.”
Rogers founded the association and is now the administrator for the program.
“I coached for the team, wherever necessary,” he said. “I was in high school when I started working here. I had an agreement to buy the rink but it didn’t work out. I worked for the new owner for a couple of months. I went to another rink. That rink closed.”
Rogers became affiliated with the Arcadia rink and with a major renovation project. It became a home for VOSHA.
“I grew up in the Arcadia rink when I was a kid.”
Since then, Rogers has seen the sport grow significantly in Arizona.
“Everyone in Arizona connected with hockey seems to be from somewhere else,” Rogers said. “Hockey is growing in Arizona. The big thing we do is at the grassroots level. We go into the schools and bring them lists on where the rinks are located. We’ve also put on some clinics. I’m hoping we get more kids involved in hockey.
“But hockey itself has gotten so advanced now. It’s grown so much in last 25 years.”
The Valley of the Sun Hockey Association won the 2005 Bantam Tier II nationals to become the first Arizona team to ever win a USA Hockey National Tournament.
Rogers also boasts that VOSHA has competitive travel programs at the AAA, AA, Tier I, Tier II, A and B levels. He added that the Grand Canyon Tournament Series is set to offer VOSHA teams the ability to invite travel hockey teams to Phoenix for weekend games. That event, Rogers said, means Arizona teams need not travel out of their own state to play competitive hockey.
In his own association, Rogers has been impressed with the interest by participants.
“We’re filled to capacity,” he said. “There’s always a chance for a decline, but we haven’t seen that. With our limited facilities right now, we can’t grow.”
Rogers is looking for youth hockey to grow in various areas of the sport.
“We will get together so we can get more kids playing each year,” he said. “We’ve been working at the grassroots to grow. I’ve been working with coaches on how to get more programs going.”
Rogers said one of the drawbacks to potential growth in Arizona hockey is the challenges for having summer programs.
“It’s obviously so hot during the summer,” Rogers said. “A lot of players will travel to northern states for the summer. The importance of summer programming is getting new kids introduced to the sport.”
The Arcadia arena is also home for the Valley of the Sun’s four Lady Coyotes Tier I travel and development teams and also home for the girls association Mustangs hockey program.
Story courtesy of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
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