North Andover Youth Center Proudly Features its YardRink Year-Round!
Ice hockey in the winter and street hockey in the summer – what more could the kids at the North Andover Youth Center want?!
Brian Packard, CEO of YardRink and a North Andover resident, had the idea to set up a YardRink Street rink at the Joseph N. Hermann Youth Center, allowing local kids to enjoy playing hockey in a real rink setting.
For years, the Center has offered street hockey, but the games took place on a fenced-in, multi-use court with no hockey rink boards – so the players spent much time chasing the ball out of bounds and fishing it away from the fence. And, there was no authentic board play like the real game of hockey. With YardRink’s interlocking boards and netting behind the goals, the rink has reached a whole new level of engagement among kids.
Street hockey has quickly become one of the most popular sports at the Center. “The ball doesn’t leave the rink now. To say the new rink is popular is an understatement – All I know is that these kids can’t get enough of this street hockey,” said Rick Gorman, Executive Director of the North Andover Youth Center.
Following the success of the street setup, the Center added a tarp to allow the rink to be filled and frozen into ice in the winter. Not only does this provide kids with a new way to stay active during the colder months, but it also brings the community together. The rink is now a year-round fixture at the Center.
Watching kids skate after school and on weekends during the 2024-2025 winter season, Gorman said, “felt like old-timey New England.” He added, “We’ve already had more skating days this year than the previous three years combined.”
Want to learn more?
Rick Gorman and the North Andover Youth Center were featured in The Eagle Tribune and the Boston Globe discussing how the community is using YardRink for street and ice hockey. Follow the Center on Facebook and Instagram to check out the year-round fun the community is having on the rink.
