Santos Herrera, Staff Reporter
February 2, 2012
Ron Breckon and his fellow roller hockey buddies get together every Wednesday and Sunday evening from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Ellensburg Racquet and Recreation Center to play what Breckon calls box of marbles hockey. A phrase he came up with to describe the game play, especially when kids play the game.
“You tip a box and all the marbles run to the corner,” Breckon said. “It’s the same. Wherever the puck is, that’s where the kids tend to go.”
It’s all just drop-in hockey. No championship, no team names, and no problems. Anyone that has a pair of roller blades can stop by and give it a shot. The skill level varies as well as the ages. Skills run from beginner to advanced and ages from 19 years old to early 60s. Teams are formed just like on the schoolyard, only a little more fairly. The group tries to make even teams so that one team doesn’t dominate and everyone has fun. The game was on between light colored shirts and dark colored shirts.
“The group has extra sticks and pads too for those who aren’t fully equipped,” said Jonathan Belford, Central alum.
Belford was born and raised in Ellensburg and was a member of the Windy City Wings. A team that he and some childhood friends started. With the help of their parents, the 10 year olds challenged teams in Yakima.
According to Belford, his team only had five players, one less than what was needed to play. The opposing team had over double the number of players than the Windy City Wings and wouldn’t lend them any substitutes. Ironically, the Windy City Wings dominated with a brutal score of 13-1. Belford left that game with three hat tricks.
In hockey, a hat trick is a total of three goals. Therefore, Belford’s total for the game was nine goals. In the National Hockey League, if anyone gets a hat trick, fans will throw their hats onto the ice, hence, the name. However, it is very difficult to do in the big leagues.
Now, Belford still enjoys playing roller hockey alongside friends such as Kelli Spaulding. Spaulding, a former Central softball player and now an assistant coach for the softball team, also enjoys rolling with the pack. Spaulding is currently the only female player but says that she doesn’t mind it at all because the group accommodates to every skill level. Spaulding also stated that there was another female player but that she moved away. Spaulding said that she comes back week after week simply because she likes the sport and it gives her something to do.
There are also other community members that join in on the fun. Taylor Dawson, the youngest player of the bunch, has been attending these bi-weekly pick-up games since he was 12. Now, 19, he says that just about all of the players have been there since he started.
“Some of us old timers have been here 12 years,” said Troy Redberg, a community member and fellow player.
Redberg also said that his sons and nephew played for a while until they went off to school.
“It’s really something special when a dad can do something like this with his kids,” Redberg said.
It is rare to see a group of people of all ages get together outside of school and enjoy a game. All in all, as a collective whole, the roller hockey players can agree on two simple things: they are all there to have fun and that they would all love to see a bigger turn-out in the near future.
