Going Back to Cali…

There is no better spot to kick off our roller season than this weekend in Southern California. As a New Yorker, I look forward to this trip out west every year as it not only gives us a chance to get out of the cold for a few days but the chance to see some old friends and watch some great hockey. The RINKS Huntington Beach has always been one of my favorites in the country and a facility I know very well. I can say that I was one of the first to attend a tourney in this building back in the winter of ’97 as the first ever NARCh Winter Nationals was held here, back then called Coast2Coast. Our Mission Empire Snipers Junior team from New York came out to play and of course we took some hardware back east J But great memories were made for me in this rink way back then and I look forward to families making new ones themselves this weekend at Winter Wars West!

Games are also being held at the RINKS Irvine which is an amazing facility in itself, for those that have never been it is a must see. The rinks are all outdoors with a roof covering each sheet. Tomorrow there is some morning rain in the forecast so fingers crossed for a very mild shower! Hats off to the staff at both facilities for all of their hard work and especially the directors at both in Dan Maxwell and Ron Alexander. Also a shout out to RHA who worked on getting a newer floor for HB as there were major issues with the old worn out floor there. Glad that things worked out there and the floor looks awesome here.

112 teams are playing this weekend in divisions ranging from 6u thru 35+.  Teams as always have traveled in from all over Southern California, Northern California and Arizona.

Make sure you check out some of our sponsor booths this weekend as Hockey Monkey, Labeda, Alkali, Konixx , and Rink Rat will be set up for the weekend. Rollerdad News is in the house this weekend too and will be posting all weekend long, check them out on social media. I also want to thank Pure Hockey who gave us $25-off gift cards for all of our players this weekend, the cards must be used in the store in Anaheim.

Good luck to all teams….

Tim McManus