News Release

Roller hockey camps to begin with opening of new outdoor arena in Hernando 
 

Hernando, Jun 27, 2002 - HERNANDO - Summer in North Mississippi may make large sheets of ice hard to find, but that hasn't kept the Memphis RiverKings hockey team from keeping busy in DeSoto County.

On Saturday, the DeSoto County-based RiverKings and Maddox Foundation officials will be on hand to hold a ground breaking ceremony for the new $200,000 roller hockey Œairnasium' at the Hernando Civic Center.

The following weekend, RiverKings players like team captain Don Parsons and goalie Mark Richards will begin teaching the fundamentals of hockey to area youth as the Junior StreetKings Day Camp gets under way July 8. Other players who will be instructors include Khalil Thomas, Kevin Fricke, Don Martin, Jay Neal and Ben Gorewich.

"This camp will provide a much needed summer activity for kids in the area," said Parsons, who will serve as the camp director.

A total of 60 slots are available for the weekly camps, which will be held throughout July and August. League play is scheduled to start in early September.

So far, Parsons said he has received more than 200 e-mails inquiring about the camp and fielded at least 20 calls a day.

"People act kind of surprised when they find out they are talking to me," said Parsons, 33, who was the Central Hockey League's Most Valuable Player in 2002. "They say is this really Donnie Parsons?"

The RiverKings won the CHL championship, the team's first, in April.

Parsons said he wanted to become actively involved in promoting youth hockey and after having a conversation with Maddox Foundation president Robin Costa earlier this spring.

"We hope to give kids in the county and some even as far away as Memphis an opportunity to come out and learn to play roller hockey," Parsons told the Hernando Rotary Club Wednesday. "Hopefully, when it comes time to start the league, the kids will have the ability to play well."

Land for the arena was donated by the Rotary Club.

Children between the ages of 5 and 15 are required to provide their own in-line skates, helmets and hockey sticks. A basic pair of skates costs around $40.

The camps, which are progressive and differ each week, are $150 per week. Scholarships are available.

Parsons said hockey is catching on as a sport in the football-dominated South.

"It's becoming really big," said Parsons, a Massachusetts native. "We've played in Tallahassee where we were the inaugural hockey team there to play. I go back there now and there's two arenas and hundreds of kids playing organized hockey."

Parsons said the children he coaches often teach him a thing or two about hockey.

"I'm still learning hockey myself," he said.