Tampa Bay Lightning to build outdoor street hockey rink in Lakewood Ranch

Another outdoor hockey rink is coming to Manatee County.

On Wednesday, Tampa Bay Lightning officials will come to Lakewood Ranch to announce plans for the rink at the Premier Sports Campus in a scheduled news conference.

The street rink, with dimensions planned at 120 feet by 60 feet, won’t be the first for Manatee County – there’s one near the Premier Sports Campus at Lakewood Ranch’s Adventure Park and another at the Manatee Police Athletic League Complex.

However, it’s the first time the Lightning plan to build an outdoor rink for a community.

“Over the next three-year period, we’re building 10 of these outdoor rinks in the continuous five-county area around Amalie Arena,” Lightning vice president of community hockey development Jay Feaster said.

Those counties are Pinellas, Hillsborough, Polk, Pasco and Manatee.

The Lightning have an umbrella program called “Build the Thunder,” and within that is a community program called “Equip the Thunder.” The Lightning have pledged to distribute 100,000 Lightning-logoed street hockey sticks and balls in the marketplace over five years and will donate 500 complete sets to 500 schools.

“We’re in Year 3,” Feaster said. “We’ve distributed in excess of 60,000 street hockey sticks and balls to kids and we’ve visited over 230 schools. We’ve said, ‘Now, we have to find a place for these kids to find a place to play.’ And that’s part of this program.”

Having an ice rink just to the north in Ellenton was key in picking Lakewood Ranch, but so was the relationship the Lightning have with Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, Inc., which began in January 2013.

Part of Wednesday’s news conference will detail an extension of the existing partnership between the Lightning and SMR.

“It’s a much-different process to go through and it’s a much-easier conversation and getting things going because of the relationship,” Feaster said.

Getting the rink to the Premier Sports Campus is another feather in Antonio Saviano’s cap. Saviano, Premier’s sports director, has overseen several events at the facility.

This past weekend, PSC hosted the 2017 USA Ultimate National Championship. It also has hosted the annual NIKE International Friendlies, a U-17 national team soccer tournament that saw Brazil, the United States and others compete in front of decent-sized crowds, and numerous lacrosse tournaments.

Last year, Saviano brought world-famous retired soccer star Luis Figo, who played for FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and the Portuguese national team, to announce a youth soccer showcase event at the Premier Sports Campus.

Now he’ll have an outdoor hockey rink that can host events.

“It’s just going to add another element to the campus,” Saviano said.

This story was originally published October 23, 2017 at 5:12 PM with the headline "Tampa Bay Lightning to build outdoor street hockey rink in Lakewood Ranch."