Youth hockey program growing at Gateway Ice Center in Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — With the Stanley Cup Finals once again airing on ABC, we were on the lookout for stories featuring the Fresno Falcons.

Before the minor league team folded in 2008, a man would dance during timeouts and entertain entire arenas. “In my hometown of Fresno, California, I was also known as 'Cotton Eye Joe,'” says Kenny Lewis. Lewis, a Fresno State University graduate, grew up going to Falcons games and saw dancing as a way to give back to the fans. “There are a lot of things I could have done worse if I was 15 or 16 years old,” Lewis says. “I met some people in Texas who knew the old Falcons stuff and they were like, 'Oh my God! Cotton Eye Joe!' It's amazing to see something like this happen 1,500 miles away.” Lewis now coaches an under-16 traveling team in Dallas, and his son, who started playing hockey in Fresno, will play in Colorado's equivalent of Triple AAA hockey next year.

The next generation of hockey players are still being groomed in the Valley. “I played for this hockey club,” Mark Haupt says, “and I was one of the first kids to join the Fresno Junior Hockey Club.”Now, almost 50 years later, Haupt, who played for the Falcons in the early 1990s, heads up Fresno’s youth hockey program.

Every Monday, the Gateway Ice Center hosts a “Try Free Hockey” event where anyone can take to the ice and play. “You can come here and try it out for free,” Haupt said. “We'll provide all the equipment. We'll provide everything.”

The equipment was also made possible thanks to a grant provided by Dick's Sporting Goods Co. “We were one of the 75For75 grant recipients this year, so it really helped us purchase more equipment to learn to play,” said Marcel Bordas, head coach of the Fresno Jr. Monsters 10U Squirts.

Since the program began four years ago, it has grown from fewer than 50 kids to more than 300. “You get a good sense of how the kids are doing. They might be a little anxious at first, but by the end they're having a great time,” Haupt said.

So while Fresno's professional team may be nothing more than a memory, a handful of traveling junior teams, like the one playing at Gateway Ice, still carry on the Falcons spirit and keep the sport of hockey alive in the Central Valley.

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