Ball hockey banned from Copeland's wooden floor
Ball hockey will not be played on the wooden floor at Bill Copeland Sports Complex until further notice, after concerns about damage following a recent tournament.
The $668,000-wooden floor was installed in 2011 primarily for the use of lacrosse teams, said a report by parks and recreation director Dave Ellenwood.
Ball hockey, inline hockey and other floor sports have been played at Kensington and Burnaby Lake arenas. Special events, such as high school graduations and the 2012 BC Seniors Games, used Copeland while a protective covering was placed over the wooden floor.
When Metro Minor Ball Hockey requested use of Copeland for the 2012 Western Challenge Cup, held July 12 to 15, all three Burnaby arenas were required.
City staff agreed to allow it based on an understanding the event could be managed so it would not likely do permanent damage; if any significant damage was done it could be repaired during its first scheduled maintenance in 2013 before the next lacrosse season; and the tournament organizers would schedule only younger and smaller U11 and U13 teams to play at Copeland to limit the impact on the floor.
Arena staff photographed the condition of the floor weekly from the beginning of May to the start of the tournament and immediately after the tournament to document the impact of ball hockey, the report said. After two seasons and 635 hours of lacrosse, it has many scuffs and dents. The ball hockey users added scuff marks and indentations.
While arena staff removed the scuff marks with a thorough cleaning, the indentations will be minimized or removed when the "re-screening" maintenance is done in 2013, which involves lightly sanding the floor and recoating it with a liquid sealant.
If any permanent dents remain after that, staff may need to replace a panel, of which spares were supplied when the floor was purchased.
"Unfortunately, vandalism occurred during the Western Challenge Cup when a name was scratched into the floor," said the report. When Metro Minor Ball Hockey were notified, "they were very concerned and immediately followed up with the teams participating in the tournament to track down the source of the vandalism."
They also offered to pay the cost of the repair. "Staff are confident that the damage will disappear when the re-screening is done."
Regular use of the wooden floor for ball hockey is not recommended "at this time" as there is enough demand from lacrosse organizations.
"However, if in the future the facility is required to host an exceptional ball hockey event, and potential damage is mitigated by the ball hockey organization to the satisfaction of staff, and the event does not unduly compromise the facility's use by other users, then staff can re-assess this position," said the report.
wchow@burnabynewsleader.com
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