The legacy of the 2025 NHL Stadium Series game will live on in Delaware County.
Following a $250,000 commitment from the Columbus Blue Jackets Foundation, the YMCA of Central Ohio will open the first street hockey rink at the Liberty Township/Powell YMCA this summer.
This collaboration between the NHL and the YMCA of Central Ohio is working to provide more kids with affordable access to the sport, and it broke ground Feb. 27.
According to Kisha Swift, the YMCA of Central Ohio's vice president of marketing and communications, the rink will have a ribbon-cutting event sometime in the summer at the location that serves more than 11,000 people every year.
Investment of time, not just finances
Along with its foundation funding the new rink, the Blue Jackets will provide resources to support programming, according to the foundation's executive director, Andee Cochren. This includes Try Hockey for Free clinics, staff trainings and equipment.
"We want to make sure as many kids have the opportunity to play the game we love, and we know that there are barriers to getting into the sport of hockey," Cochren said.
"We're not just funding the infrastructure so kids have access to play, but the Columbus Blue Jackets Foundation and the team will also be providing resources to help start up hockey programming at the Y by providing curriculum, staff training and necessary equipment, so that way, at the end of the day, really all the kid needs to play hockey is a pair of sneakers."
As a part of the investment in Delaware County, the Blue Jackets will also provide academic resources that address literacy and STEM along with a hockey-themed wellness curriculum to the Olentangy Local School District.
Cochren noted the street hockey rink in Powell is a portion of a $1 million investment by the foundation into the central Ohio community.
Forty children from the Powell or greater Delaware County community were invited to participate in the opening event.
"That was a fantastic piece of the event. The kids got to walk away with a ball, stick and a little jersey," Swift said.
Sophia Veneziano is a Columbus Dispatch reporter supported by the Center for HumanKindness at The Columbus Foundation. She may be reached at sveneziano@dispatch.com. The Dispatch retains full editorial independence for all content.
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