North Bay parents keep children active with outdoor backyard rinks

The 'Smith Centre' on Kathryn Crescent in North Bay is not the home of the Toronto Maple Leafs or the North Bay Battalion but 9-year-old Samuel Smith. Samuel’s dad, Chuck, crafted the family backyard rink as a way for Samuel to continue playing the sport he loves.

At night, 'Smith Centre' is lit up.

The backyard rink is in its inaugural year.

"The only thing I did before was layer up water around snowbanks but it didn’t work really well," said Chuck. "We really only got between two and three weeks out of it."

It’s Samuel’s first year playing minor hockey. With the season on currently hold in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Chuck wanted to make sure his son was able to keep skating.

"I kind of wondered if we might have had another lockdown so I wanted to make sure he can keep building his skills," said Chuck. "We’re hoping it’s back up and running soon. He’s missing it for sure."

In the community of Yellek, on the Nipissing First Nation, there's a battle for the puck between cousins Ryerson and Dustin on the Davis rink.

"I built the boards in the summer with plywood, 2x4s and I buy a tarp and lay it down to keep the water inside it and maintain it," explained father Ryan Davis.

When Ryan was younger, his dad built him an outdoor rink. Ryan has built Ryerson an outdoor rink for the last five winters. He wanted to continue the tradition for his son, who currently plays hockey.

"At least he’s able to get on the ice and get on skating while everything is out on hold," said Ryan.

As young hockey players patiently wait to play again, passing the time on an outdoor rink slapping a few pucks in the net will be the way to keep the stick on the ice.

If you can’t make your own rink, the City of North Bay has 11 public rinks ready to go. Six of them are currently open.

Weather permitting, the city is hoping to get the other public rinks open as soon as possible. 

To check the status of the outdoor rinks, check out the city’s website.