Family Y completes inaugural in-line hockey season

Columbia County's first in-line hockey league ended Tuesday with two championship games.

Sponsored by the Marshall Branch of the Family Y, two teams from the ages 7 to 9 league and the two teams from the ages 10-12 league faced off against each other in the parking lot of Abilene Baptist Church on Washington Road in Martinez.

The Islanders and the Thrashers took to the asphalt first in the ages 7 to 9 age bracket. The Thrashers took the game with a 10-8 victory. The score could have been much greater for the Thrashers had it not been for Islander goalie Dakota Davois coming up with more than 10 saves.

Most of the goals came from Thrasher standout Nathan Aldridge with 7 of his team's 10 goals. Islander Chris Wilkie also played an impressive game scoring all eight of his team's goals.

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For the 10-12 years old bracket, The Fireballs were defeated by the Street Devils 5 to 3.

Despite the loss, Fireball head coach Doug Keskula seemed pleased with the inaugural in-line hockey season that only hosted five teams in an eight-game season.

"I thought it was a good first season," said Keskula. "I thought the kids on both teams learned and had a lot of fun. It was an instructional season for all of us in all age brackets. The kids played real hard."

The season kicked off in April and was preceded with a month worth of scrimmages and practices. Starting off slow, Family Y officials and Keskula see a real growth potential for the fledgling sport.

Keskula said the Family Y is already planning a second season of in-line hockey in the fall. He and other coaches are meeting next week to discuss the season and get the word out to recruit more kids.

"In other parts of the Southeast it's growing significantly," said Keskula. "I suspect this will do well. It's a low-cost activity compared to other sports like ice hockey that's a lot of fun."