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E-mail StorySaunders rink open for slap shots
| Thursday, May 8 2008 5:19 PM
Last Updated: Friday, May 9 2008 8:10 AM
Bakersfield has one more place to play, now that a new rink has opened in Saunders Park.
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Morgan Saso, a Cal State Bakersfield basketball player, gives a new kind of basketball a try as she shoots baskets with the Rolling Chariots basketball team. At left is Stacy Clowers of the Rolling Chariots and at right is CSUB player Nikki West. They were on hand representing their teams for Thursday's ceremony opening the city's new covered sports facility at Saunders Park.
The new city sports facility was opened with a ceremony at Saunders Park Thursday.
Colonel Claw'd, the Bakersfield Condors mascot, makes himself right at home in the dignitaries' seats with city manager Alan Tandy and Vince Roche during the opening ceremony for the new sports rink at Saunders Park. Roche helped facilitate the development of the facility.
City officials cut the ribbon, tied across a soccer goal, Thursday afternoon at the central Bakersfield park. It’s on Palm Street, just west of HIghway 99.
The rink is an indoor facility designed for roller hockey, but it’s outdoors under a metal roof. The tiled floor — softer than a concrete floor, with some give — is also striped for basketball.
The rink — floor, dasher boards, plexiglass and boxes — was donated by investors in Los Angeles. They bought a building in Lancaster that had been used by an indoor hockey business, but they had no use for the two rinks.
Their Realtor, Vince Roche of Bakersfield, knew what question to ask: “How can I get those courts in Bakersfield so I can play on them?”
The city accepted the two rinks. The other is in storage and slated for the Sports Village on Taft Highway.
The Saunders Park rink has a full slate of activity this weekend — hockey, basketball, roller derby, wheelchair basketball and soccer teams are all playing or practicing.
The city is lining up a management company to take over the rink, said Allen Abe, assistant director of the city’s Recreation and Parks Department. It will be set up for leagues and other scheduled play, he said, and not readily available for drop-in play.
Scott Balan, a player with the Bakersfield Condors hockey team, said he and his teammates are unlikely to use the rink. But it will help kids grow into the game, and it’s an easy transition from roller hockey to ice hockey, he said.
The city approved the location of the rink in January 2007, despite opposition from neighbors concerned about parking and crime.