WHITEHALL, Ohio — As part of an investment in Whitehall, the city and the Columbus Blue Jackets teamed up to build a new community street hockey rink.
The rink was unveiled on Saturday during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the John Bishop Memorial Park. Following the ceremony, the Blue Jackets hosted two 30-minute “Get Out and Learn” clinic sessions for kids between the ages of four and 12.
About 120 kids tried hockey for the first time and were given a hockey stick and shirt.
Attending the celebration was Kim Maggard, mayor of Whitehall, Shannon Sorrell, Whitehall director of Parks & Recreation, Andee Cochren, Blue Jackets Foundation executive director and Jared Boll, veteran Blue Jackets forward and assistant development coach.
"We love our sport and we understand that there are barriers to getting involved in the game," Cochren told 10TV. "So, when we can partner with organizations like the city of Whitehall to be able to provide access to give every boy and girl the opportunity to play this great game across neighborhoods in central Ohio, it's a win-win for us."
Kids that are interested in getting involved in the programming that will be offered at the new rink are asked to connect to the city of Whitehall's Parks & Recreation. There will also be programming offered through the Whitehall City Schools.
"What this means is it brings another dimension of opportunities for our kids and adults, in that they learn how to play a different game they've never been exposed to before," Maggard said. "We have a lot of diversity in our community and to know that all these kids can get together and they can learn how to play with each other and have teamwork and work together in order to make a team - that is amazing... and that's what the Blue Jackets are providing for us."
The funding for the rink comes from a $250,000 investment in the city of Whitehall by the Columbus Blue Foundation last year.
Construction broke ground last summer and was wrapped up in December.
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