Penticton Minor Lacrosse Association president Chris Danby was concerned for the sport prior to last Monday’s city council meeting.
A 6-1 vote in favour of removing ice from Memorial Arena quickly erased those feelings.
“That result was great,” said Danby.
Danby was concerned not having any dry floor space would hurt registration numbers. He knows of other parents who don’t like driving to Summerland for lacrosse.
“Because we live in Penticton and everything is always so close, if you have to drive that 15 extra minutes, it’s a bit of an inconvenience,” he said. “If you don’t have to do it, you don’t want to do it.”
His concern was especially for the younger age group.
“That was our biggest growth last year,” said Danby, adding he knows they will have a few more families registering their kids to play the sport for the first time.
During the council meeting, the association mentioned it attracted 20 new players last year. Danby understands where Spectra Venue management is coming from and its mandate to make money for the city. However, he said it can’t be at the cost of local not-for-profit user groups.
Danby was impressed to see the support from the lacrosse community at the city council meeting.
“We packed the chamber. It was good,” he said.