Michelle Perin’s Blog

What would my life be like without hockey in it? From October through March, do I have an identity aside from being a hockey mom? What would it be like to have to drive over 2 hours to strap a pair of skates on and take a few laps around the ice? What happens to the kids who have been picked up by the Eugene Generals if they have no where to play even though their contract goes through 2011 and try-outs for other teams are over?

All of these questions and about seven hundred more have been racing around my head since about 3pm today. That’s when I got an email stating the Lane County Board of Commissioners is considering immediately shutting down the Lane Ice Arena. Although this ice rink has been around for 20 years, a study done while the county was considering the viability of the rink suddenly deems it a hazard. Because of this, they are stating they might not allow ice to go back in and that will be the end of hockey (as well as figure skating, speed skating and skate parties) in Eugene. But because of the distance to the next closest rinks (Portland or Medford), ice hockey will be essentially over for the Willamette Valley.

I hate to say I saw it coming, but when the County is already ignoring a facility that could be an immense asset and decides to remove the ice to “assess” any upgrades, it has to make you wonder what they will do when the ice is gone. Well, exactly what they are doing. Although, I thought they would honor their contract with the Generals. I guess I was wrong. Now, they just want to say, “Sorry it costs too much to fix and we have other priorities.” I don’t think they are looking at the whole picture.

We can’t afford to lose a safe, constructive place where our youth can go, be active and enjoy themselves. Ice hockey affords kids from 3-18 years old a way to learn team ethics, sportsmanship and dedication. If you’ve never seen a group of Mites out on the ice, you haven’t lived. They are probably the cutest, funniest things ever, especially a goalie when the gear is bigger than he or she is. When they fall, they look like a turtle. But they get up and keep going and growing. The Eugene Junior Generals Bantam Team took second place in both the San Jose Winter Classic and the State Championships last season. These boys and girls played hard all season long and improved exponentially under the tutelage of Coach Flint Doungchak (also the Generals Manager) and Ross Friesen (whose daughter, Nikki who plays with the Bantams was chosen as one of the elite to make regional Selects). Along with the youth league, there is an adult league with a variety of levels, a women’s league (Eugene Xtreme) and special hockey. This doesn’t even touch the surface of all that is offered at our ice arena.

The Board of Commissioners is supposed to make a decision on shutting down this valuable resource in the next 7-10 days. There is a petition you can sign to help draw attention to the value of the rink at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/icecenter/. Donations are also being accepted to try and offset the $125,000 -1.2 million estimated to fix the rink. This is necessary if Lane County decides it does not want to find the money to save this community asset. I’m hoping this community will come together behind what it loves and won’t allow the government to say what is and is not important to us. After all, when I moved from Michigan, I chose to live in Creswell (15 miles from the rink) so that we would be close to the rink. My boys love ice hockey and so do I. It would be tragic to let the County take that away from us and so many others.