Roller hockey community raising funds for new Pocatello rink

POCATELLO – A community of hockey players in Pocatello have secured land for a new roller rink, but they need to raise the money to build it.

Inline hockey, commonly referred to as roller hockey, has been a sport without a home in the Pocatello-Chubbuck area ever since the closure of its roller rink two years ago. Now, the roller hockey community has gotten closer to finding a new home after securing land by the Pocatello Regional Airport.

The group hopes to see the project move forward by kicking up its fundraising efforts.

“(There are) plans that we’re working on, and we have the confidence and the dedication to fully make this happen within the next couple of years,” said Ryan Bennett, president of the Idaho Inline Hockey Association.

H&R Inline Hockey operated for around 20 years in a building on what was once the Naval Ordinance Plant Complex, located on Pole Line Road, where it held roller hockey games and tournaments.

In June 2021, Titan Center acquired the property, and began renovating it. When the time came for H&R Inline Hockey to renew its lease, the price was too high to continue operating, Bennett told EastIdahoNews.com. H&R’s last month of operation was August of 2023.

With this closure, the roller hockey community in Pocatello and Chubbuck suddenly didn’t have a place to regularly compete.

“When H&R Inline Hockey shut down, that was the first time that … I didn’t have somewhere to play on a regular basis,” Bennett said. “I started playing when I was seven years old.”

When it became clear that H&R wouldn’t be able to continue, co-owner Marty Rosa approached Ryan Bennett to talk about how to best keep roller hockey alive. They decided the best course of action was to form a nonprofit, which they called the Idaho Inline Hockey Association.

The association spent the next two years looking for a place where that new facility could go. In the meantime, some athletes would play games at the rink in Capell Park in Chubbuck, and some continued to travel to compete in tournaments.

“We went out and we played out there, just doing some little pickup games. We didn’t do any seasons or full leagues or anything like that. It was just more about (going) out and (playing to) ensure that we’re still playing hockey,” Bennett said.

Despite their determination, they could not find a building that met their needs.

“We looked around at a lot of different buildings to potentially lease. The problem with these buildings that we ended up looking at was we need a lot of open space. No pillars, things like that,” Bennett said.

That’s when they started looking for undeveloped land. A former roller hockey player reached out to them and pointed their attention to land on Fortress Road between Slkorsky Avenue and Bell Road.

And then in July of this year, they signed a lease on the property.

“The city of Pocatello, along with the airport, (has) been just outstanding with us. Their excitement for us is off the charts, and that’s super exciting for us as well,” Bennett said.

Ted Booth, with Booth Architecture, created designs of the future roller hockey facility, which feature a large roller rink, with spectator stands on one side, a concessions area and locker rooms on the other side.

Booth designed the building to make it possible for future expansion.

“Depending on how things go … we’re building this facility so that the side where the bleachers are, we can actually add an additional rink at some point,” Bennett said.

Sometime around the end of January, the Idaho Inline Hockey Association is holding a silent auction at the Elks Lodge. People who want updates on the fundraising efforts can find the association’s Facebook page.

The association is planning to approach a variety of businesses to forge community partnerships.

For Bennett and the rest of the association, it’s not a question of if they’ll build the facility, but how.

“The intended goal, even when we first heard the news that we would be moving out of that facility, was, ‘How do we keep hockey in the Pocatello area?’ It’s been around forever,” Bennett said.

The group is also accepting donations through Venmo.