The Jacksonville Kiwanis announced Saturday the release of funds to the Jacksonville Roller Hockey League. The donation of $10,000 comes from the proceeds of this year’s Braggin’ Rights BBQ.
Tina Hungerford of the Roller Hockey League says that the funds were going to be put to immediate use to pay for rehabilitation of the Olsen Memorial Roller Hockey Rink in Nichols Park: “The donation is actually going towards completing a project that just got completed on Saturday. Complete Asphalt Service Company out of Pittsfield grouted, filled, leveled, and sealed all the cracks in the rink’s surface. Then, some parent-volunteers are going to be going out there over this next week to do some other repairs. Then, we have ordered sport-court tile, which is another piece of the renovation of the rink that’s going to be flooring that’s going to be installed.”
Hungerford says the flooring is all-weather and is like a tile that can be replaced if a piece or section goes bad. Hungerford says with the renovations coupled with donations from other Jacksonville groups, the hope is to eventually host regional roller leagues for games and tournaments to promote more sports tourism in Jacksonville.
Hungerford says the Roller Hockey League is extremely thankful to the Kiwanis for making them the chosen chairty for this year’s BBQ: “It was definitely more than we envisioned and we couldn’t be any happier. We really appreciate the Kiwanis for this huge donation as well as all the other organizations that have helped us, the City of Jacksonville’s Parks Department, and the Jacksonville Children’s Foundation.”
To find out more about the Jacksonville Roller Hockey League or to get your children involved in the local roller hockey league, find them on Facebook.