Community Leagues Grow Skating Enthusiasts!

The new Community League Plaza will highlight this legacy.

It is becoming more well known that our network of community leagues have built more than 120 free outdoor ice-skating locations in neighbourhood communities throughout Edmonton. These include full-sized rinks, family play ice, and the newly popular freeze-ways which are all built, maintained, run and programmed by volunteer community league boards. In Edmonton, this is often where kids have their very first introduction to skating, with Mom and Dad at the local rink. Later, with friends at the local rink. This is where hockey players, ringette players, ice dancers and skating enthusiasts of all types are first born, where the passion for skating activities are practiced and continue to be enjoyed by all ages.

The EFCL 100th Anniversary project honours the incredible story of thousands of hockey coaches, hockey dads, community ice rink makers to recognize the social impact and benefit that these amenities and these volunteers have had on creating passionate skating participants, fans and friends. The EFCL started and ran minor community hockey for years until it became Hockey Edmonton. Community Leagues have organized and funded leagues, events, programs, and drop-in ice opportunities for more than 100 years.

Pond rinks came first but did you know that it was in 1921 that the Westmount Community League opened the first outdoor rink?

In 1922 the Community League Hockey program started and The Jasper Place Community League Team – (seen here) won the first Simpson Cup in overtime (named after Edmonton Hockey Star Bullet Joe Simpson)

The new Community League Plaza has been built for skaters too. W. Hawrelak park skaters will be able to sit around a beautiful gas fireplace to warm up, and there are overhead heaters to keep the space comfortable as well.

We cannot wait for you to see it!
Please join us online for the live-streamed grand opening event.