For those who don’t know Reno pond hockey is the official group for everything hockey happening in Reno. Reno pond hockey started during the 2018-2019 hockey season. It started as a small group of guys playing hockey in Reno at the seasonal ice rink. At the time, the rink was at Greater Nevada Field. When the rink moved over to the row, the hockey group moved with it. Since getting permission to play at the rink for the 2019-2020 season the group has been playing pick-up hockey every Friday morning and Sunday night. The group has even hosted a tournament. The group’s largest online presence is with its Facebook group.
Street Hockey
As one of the organizers for Reno pond hockey, I want our group to be able to continue to play during the offseason. This is my plan for how we can continue to play. My plan is to get our group to play street hockey (ball hockey not inline hockey). What will happen is that we will be playing Sunday nights at the Sun Valley Community Park. This park was chosen because the park has an inline hockey rink. This an outdoor rink without lights. This rink has flooded in the past. There are also other hockey groups that use this rink such as the Nevada inline hockey team.
To work around some of these issues we will schedule our pick-up games for two hours before sunset. This will allow us to have enough light and beat the weather during the summer months. We will also use the basketball courts located at the park if the rink is being used by another group. The rink at the row will be ending its season on Feb. 19, 2020. Reno pond hockey should be staring its street hockey season the weekend of Feb. 23, 2020.
Future Leagues
There are two current ideas I have for future leagues in the Reno area. One would be a seasonal pond hockey league that would run from November to February. I don’t want to give out too much information about this league at this point. I am currently working on a presentation to show sports facilities in our area who could host it. I would like to have this league going for the 2020-2021 season.
The other league is a street hockey league. The idea is that it would be similar to a travel hockey league. It would still be pond hockey. Each team would have their own owner/facilities. This league would run from March to October. This league isn’t as thought out yet as the other league. I would like to get most of the foundations of this league ready by 2021.
Future Rink
I have an idea for a rink that might work. My idea for a rink isn’t fancy. I just want to get something. I really believe that having anything is better than having nothing. My idea is to build a barn and put a full-size synthetic ice rink in it. After doing some rough numbers and looking at similar projects, I think that a rink can be built for $500,000. The current plan is to get 1,000 investors at $500. once we have enough money, we sell the name rights to pay for a property. I think once we have $500,000 we have it built within 3 months. At this point, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done so I can accept money from investors. I hope to be in that position within three to six months.
Zac Electrifly 