ARVADA —Sitting on a bench beside the ice rink, three players in the Arvada Hockey Association youth league talked last week about how much time they spend at the Apex Center.
Hunter Gomez and Patrick Spinder, both 15, and Spencer Morgan, 16, attend different schools but have been playing on the same team since they were 7 years old.
“It’s our second home,” Gomez said. “It’s one of the best rinks I’ve ever been to; they’ve got the best ice, it’s the best maintenance and the cleanest locker rooms.”
While thousands of loyal customers like the hockey players pass through facilities every week, the district still has to work hard to get new people in the doors, said Faith Gregor, the district’s communications coordinator.
“That’s one of our biggest challenges,” Gregor said. “We’re always trying to capture the ones we don’t see often enough.”
To encourage people who might be intimidated by trying out a new sport or who don’t want to commit to a league, Apex has lessons in dozens of sports.
“Our focus has always been on the recreation side,” said district marketing director Rob Anna. “There’s plenty of organizations around doing the competitive aspect, so once they get those abilities, they can move on.”
Fall programming is kicking off, with youth leagues offering indoor lacrosse, soccer, volleyball, hockey, basketball and pickleball, and adult leagues offering basketball, pickleball, indoor arena football, kickball, soccer and racquetball.
While there’s no new programming, Gregor said lacrosse and .
“Lacrosse is really working to expand,” she added. “It’s big in the southern part of the city, so we’re working to offer more of it up here, and it’s getting bigger. Pretty much anything we can do outdoors we can do indoors at the fieldhouse, and that’s helped tremendously.”
Not including lessons, high school teams or drop-in programs, league participants across all sports hit 16,000 this year. That number was boosted by increased program options at two facilities that have undergone expansions in recent years.
at 5724 Oak St. doubled the indoor field space. Around the same time, the district began sharing space in a building around 82nd Avenue and Simms Street it had leased to a church for years.
Apex transferred a handful of programs into the new space and built a full-length trampoline with a foam pit at the end for gymnastics.
, and the building underwent $1 million in renovations and is currently doubling the number outdoor pickleball courts from eight to 16.
Marcus Scarafon, coach for the youth 15-16 hockey team and associate director for the Arvada Hockey Association, said around 500 kids in the league use the Apex ice rinks almost year-round.
“This has been our home base for a long time and the league prides itself on hard work, passion for the game and giving back to the community,” Scarafon said. “You never want to forget teaching kids those life lessons is a big part these leagues.”
Austin Briggs: 303-954-1729, abriggs@denverpost.com or twitter.com/abriggs
