Pima Street Hockey League History

Like most sports franchises and endeavors, the Pima Street Hockey League (PSHL) began on a warm Friday evening with a beer-driven exchange of boastful challenges. Its first game was in a tiny living room in a low-rent part of the Sam Hughes neighborhood in Tucson, with founding members Andy, Bob, and Travis taking turns as the goalie. According to legend they used a doorway as a goal and a flip-flop as a blocker. By the grins on their flushed faces, it was easy to see that they already had plans for a much bigger enterprise.

Within weeks, the triumvirate had acquired a plastic goal and a small amount of equipment. They began to meet every Saturday in a church parking lot to play half-court, and as others joined the fun, they would split into teams, alternating 3 ten-minute periods of defending the goal. But all this soon proved insufficient. There were no boundaries save the wall behind the goal, so play was often interrupted as errant balls were chased down or lost in prickly-pears and the like. And the half-court format was stultifying; a good defense was never rewarded with the opportunity to make transitions into the other team’s end. So the league found a fenced-in basketball court and its members pooled funds for a second set of goal equipment.

And yet it was still not enough. As more and more eager players were initiated, the teams began to resemble real hockey in their style and numbers. The court was simply too small; its dusty sidelines and ineffective fences also contributed to its abandonment. A player discovered the existence of the Eric Ogden Skate-park, and the group again changed its location to the rink to which it now owes its name.

Media

Scott Kilbury, from KOLD Channel 13 News, was there for one of our Saturday games and showed the footage on the 6 o’clock News Monday, July 11th. See the two minute TV spot here .: (it’s a QuickTime movie)

Gerald Gay, from The Arizona Daily Star, wrote an article about the Pima Street Hockey League titled “In a hockey… skate of mind“.