Roller hockey golf benefit set for October 17

Local youth association needs boost to push rink-fund to goal Warwick—The Warwick Youth Roller Hockey Association is this close to achieving its goal of raising enough money to build a permanent rink in Warwick at the Town Park on Union Corners Road. Next month might just do it. The group is hosting a golf outing and luncheon on Wednesday, Oct. 17, at the Farmstead Golf and Country Club in Lafayette, N.J., about 25 minutes from Warwick. Tickets for the golf/cart and lunch are $125. Jim DeSotle has been spearheading the group for the past two years, hoping that kids and adults in Warwick can play roller hockey right in their own backyard. He and many others have been traveling outside of Warwick—even traveling out of state—to play the sport that is quickly growing. Today, the small but dedicated committee led by DeSotle has created the non-profit group, as well as a Web site, helped to prepare the rink location on Union Corners Road, and raised almost enough money to build the rink. “We are within $5,000 of our goal,” DeSotle said. About six years ago, the town put down a patch of blacktop at the Union Corners Road sports complex that was to be used for an ice rink in the winter. Engineering issues prevented that from ever happening. DeSotle saw that patch of blacktop as a great spot for the roller hockey rink. This past spring, it was enlarged to make it regulation size, 80 by 120 feet, thanks to the town, namely Supervisor Michael Sweeton, and councilmen Leonard DeBuck and Jim Gerstner. When it is built, the rink will have four-foot high fiberglass boards on the bottom, topped with five feet of chain-link fencing on top. Total cost from start to finish will be about $70,000, all raised by private donations. The rink would be used mostly in the fall and winter by the hockey league, but would be open to the public at other times. DeSotle is also looking for local contractors who are willing to work for cost or to trade their expertise and services for advertising on the hockey boards. Volunteers are needed to help build the rink—experience in carpentry, fence installation and paving and excavating are particularly needed. Roller hockey is growing in popularity, according to DeSotle, and when the rink is completed, he expects that interest to increase even more. First things first—there is a golf outing to host. Anyone interested in participating can contact DeSotle at 845-544-1139, by emailing him at warwickhockey@optonline.net, or just send a check made payable to the Warwick Roller Hockey Association to 26 Southwyke Lane, Warwick, N.Y. 10990. For those who cannot make it, tee sponsorships are available for $100. “Families or businesses can prominently display their message or advertisement on a designated tee box,” said DeSotle.