At this point we will take a pause to discuss what could very well be (if you'll forgive the cliche) The End Of An Era. In 1979 the Lancaster Recreation Commission opened a street hockey rink at Reservoir Park, the league continued to play there when Lancaster Dek Hockey Incorporated was formed and took over operations in 2000. I have supervised the league since the beginning and the rink has regrettably always been a target for vandalism, in the early days it wasn't unusual to find broken bottles on the macadam playing surface and biological waste (canine or otherwise) in the team benches. In 2002 the benches and penalty box were completely enclosed and a fence was erected on the side of the rink facing the street which helped somewhat but it still didn't stop anybody who absolutely wanted to get inside. We did not play at the rink from November of 2019 to September of 2021 thanks to The BS, when we returned there were massive repairs required because the city's homeless and hoodlum populations made themselves to home. The season ended on a Wednesday in November, I happened by the following Monday and discovered the backs of the benches ripped open and kids running around all over the rink. Over the winter the situation did nothing but get worse, there is supposed to be some sort of neighborhood association that watches out for and reports things like this but strangely they seem to turn a blind eye whenever the rink is trespassed upon. A few weeks ago we put the word out for a league meeting at the rink on the morning of April 9 to discuss our options and the future of the league, five people showed up. The damage they witnessed is easily the worst we've ever dealt with, the repairs made the previous fall were a picnic by comparison. We all agreed that if (and that's IF) we made the repairs it would not be worth it in the long run because the vandals would only come back and rip it down all over again. Right now the future of the league is undetermined, it is not dead (and won't be if we can help it) but our time at Reservoir Park is OVER. Forty-two years is a long time and it was a hell of a run but we can no longer play there because the Dirty Bastards simply won't allow it. There are other places within the county which are possibilities for the league to play but right now the only thing for sure is nothing. Take care, thanks for reading.
