BALLHOCKEY.COM ATHLETIC CENTRE CLOSING

As most of you are aware, February will be the final month at the Ballhockey.com Athletic Centre as the property was sold to developers last year. Ballhockey.com has been operating under a lease agreement with the new owners, which ends at the end of February. 16 Melbourne Avenue has been the hub of ball hockey since it opened in 2013 and it is unfortunate that our operation in this building will end quietly without celebration as Government closures prevented us from giving this location the send-off it deserved. You will begin to notice construction as we remove the rink assets and move them into storage for the time being until we are ready to put them to use. That beautiful indoor rink will once again be showcased soon.

PLANS FOR THE FUTURE

While our hub will no longer be at the usual location, rest assured we still have plenty of opportunity to continue to grow the sport of ball hockey. There are some major plans in the near future for Ballhockey.com to continue to provide the best experience:

Revitalizing Canal Rinks
- Over the next few months, you will notice some revitalization projects on the go at our Canal location. The tent it being fixed, and the outdoor surface floor will be taken up, while we eliminate the moss growth underneath to prevent that slippery surface. There are also plans to replace the existing building with an updated space.
Replace Flooring on Mike McGowan Rink
- You may have noticed several spots on the covered rink floor this winter that have started separating. The current flooring system does not handle the cold weather well, making the connections brittle and easy to break apart. Before next winter season, you will see the entire floor replaced with the same surface we currently use on the BAC outdoor rink & Canal Open rink.
Move current indoor tile at BAC to Haig Bowl
- While we are still doing some planning and trying to ensure our current user groups can still use Haig Bowl, our plan is to purchase an additional 4000 square feet of indoor flooring, and lay that tile down at the Haig Bowl Arena to eliminate playing direct on a concrete surface. This will ensure we maintain a year-round indoor facility for ball hockey.
Expansion at Canal location
- Our plan and ultimate goal is to expand upon the Canal site we currently have with the implementation of a third 5-on-5 size rink. When Brian Broley decided to sell the Melbourne location, his vision was to develop a central location for the sport, and to construct new 3-on-3 sized rinks in addition to the existing 5-on-5 rinks. Ballhockey.com plans to continue this vision, and conversations are underway to make this happen
Use of Ballhockey.com Welland location
- As a reminder, we also currently have two additional rinks at Youngs Sportsplex in Welland. While we are not planning on pre-scheduling any games at this location, we do have access to it for youth practices and will still provide us flexibility to accommodate needed rescheduled games as we have in the past. For teams wanting to play some scheduled games in Welland, we can accommodate that as well - please let us know.

Ballhockey.com Future Plans in Niagara

Mike McGuire