You may not know it to look at the empty dek hockey rink near the pool and playground behind Etna’s Borough Building, but the borough was once home to a thriving dek hockey program.

Dek hockey had been a part of the Etna community since 1995, and up until 2021, 5 to 13 year olds had been learning the fundamentals of hockey there. Games and practices were located at the Tony Damiano Memorial Dek Hockey Rink on Pine Street.

And then it came to an abrupt end.

“It was a good league. There was never an absence of players. There ways always interest,” Etna councilwoman Daniele Rothmeyer-McElhaney said. “It’s considered a junior dek hockey rink so you can only really play with children up to a certain age. So, as their children were getting older, the folks who were running the organization didn’t have that obligation to run things anymore. That’s how the organization folded — there wasn’t anybody to step up and run it.”

But now Rothmeyer-McElhaney is stepping up and leading the effort to bring dek hockey back.

“The administrative paperwork was kind of gifted to me and I was asked to try to find somebody to run the league,” she said.

Step one happens Aug. 5 as part of Etna’s Community Day when the rink, refurbished a year ago with a new soft plastic surface, will host an informal skills competition between noon and 4 p.m.

Permission to use the rink was unanimously approved at the July Etna council meeting and permission was given to have a table to provide information and allow people to register.

“I feel very hopeful and positive about this,” Rothmeyer-McElhaney said. “There are a lot of folks that are really trying to help me and help support this cause. That dek hockey rink is quite special. It’s something in the area that other neighboring communities don’t have.

“So, it would be nice to bring dek hockey back to the community and those who are maybe new to playing hockey, those who have gotten away from playing hockey, those that are curious about hockey, there’s definitely a place for you there. And I invite anybody to come and join us, if it’s playing, if it’s reffing, it it’s coaching, all are welcome.

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