Roller Rink Rumble

There's a rumble going on over the town's roller rinks. It's a battle whose unfortunate consequence has been to pit adults against kids, and three well-intentioned groups against each other.

In one corner is the East End Hockey Association and the more than 160 kids who play in it. In the other are more than 50 adult hockey players who had, for years, been waiting for a place to play. Caught in the middle is the East Hampton Town Board, which, by this summer, will have spent some $200,000 trying to accommodate everyone.

The problem is rink time - who gets the use of the sleek, new, regulation-sized facility just completed on Abraham's Path in Amagansett. For the most part, it was intended for adult players. That's why they fumed when the youth league moved its games to the "big rink" last fall, effectively pushing off the adults on weekends.

The adult players brought their beef to the Town Board, going as far as to threaten a lawsuit. The organizers of the East End Hockey Association argued that the rink assigned to the kids was too small, not up to the standard of the league's insurer, and had been deemed unsafe by the town's own insurance consultant.

The association also claimed it deserved a stake in the adult rink, since its coaches and organizers had volunteered time to complete and paint it.

With the spring youth hockey season approaching, the conflict is likely to continue. The Star is familiar with the problems at the rinks because we sponsor a youth league team, coached by one of our reporters. We hope to see the conflict resolved.

So does the Town Board. To solve the problem for good, the board agreed last week to borrow $60,000 to upgrade the youth rink to regulation size and design. It is hoped the work can be done by summer.

Another 60 grand? For another roller rink? Taxpayers are right to ask. But it is money well invested in a thriving sport for kids that now rivals Little League in popularity and is providing a valuable recreational option for adults.

The big kids and the little kids will have to share space for one more season, but if the town sticks to its guns and completes the upgrade on schedule, good times will roll again.