From The Reporter...
A mother's plea to save the ice...I always feel like these stories should get published!
I'm writing in regard to the city's proposal to purchase the Vacaville Skating Center, aka Vacaville Ice Sports ("Meeting to discuss ice rink purchase," The Reporter, Oct. 22).
My main concern -- whether the city decides to purchase the center or not -- is that the programs currently in place, especially the youth hockey and figure skating programs, are not adversely affected by this transaction.
Those involved should be aware that reducing the number of rinks as discussed from two to one would be devastating to the youth athletic programs currently being conducted at the facility.
Practice time for figure skating and hockey teams would be greatly reduced, forcing some of these activities into early morning or late evening hours and possibly driving families away from the rink altogether to partake in programs in Sacramento or the East Bay. That essentially could kill the hockey and figure skating programs completely.
Youth in the Vacaville area deserve a place to play hockey and competitively figure skate, just as much as they deserve access to other sports such as soccer, basketball, baseball and the like.I urge the City Council to consider the area's youth (and those youth out of the area who travel to Vacaville several times each week to use the facility) when deciding whether to purchase the rink and, subsequently, whether to reduce the number of ice surfaces.
In an age when so many children are obese or living unhealthy lifestyles because of a lack of physical activity and participation in team sports, why would we want to reduce the number of avenues for them to remain healthy, active and competitive?
Cean Burgeson, West Sacramento
The author is a parent of a youth hockey player and a figure skater.
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2 comments:
Weird. I used to live in Vacaville twenty years ago! Can't believe I'm reading something about it so randomly! Did you know Vaca means cow in Spanish? So essentially it's a cow town. But no, people don't go cow tipping for fun. Not that I know of any anyway.
Thank you for publishing this, Aaron. I think that the more information that's available to people, the better.
Ice reduction isn't an isolated issue; it's a national one. We should all be concerned that this could happen to our local rinks, too.
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