Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | April 7, 2025 | Worcester Business Journal 11 key stepping stone to playing at the col- legiate or professional level, in favor of these high-profile club teams. A Boston Globe report from March found 78 high schools have dropped their boy's hockey programs since 2022. Larson said one of Triboro's teams for ages 10-12 is having five of 15 players return for next season. e rest have jumped ship for a club team, including Larson's son. In order to stay relevant, Larson said house teams may have to start combin- ing resources or launch club teams of their own. "For us, it's less about coming away with a medal saying we won, and more about the kids and parents bonding," Larson said. "When you do the im- mersion of being away with a group of people and the families, how you really get to know people, and it's great." time for his kids' hockey teams decades later, he took matters into his own hands by launching another venture: e New England Sports Center. e ice sports venue was already among the largest in the country when it opened in 1994, but it has more than doubled in size since, becoming the largest hockey venue in North America. is required the purchase of adjacent land next to the facility in 2016, allow- ing it to expand into its current foot- print of eight full-sized rinks and two smaller practice rinks. at's enough ice to cover about three football fields. NESC also hosts figure skating, but ice hockey-related tournaments and events make up a vast majority of the venue's 2025 calendar. Even with the building's size, ice remains at a premium at NESC and other rinks in the area, as tournaments are usually planned and booked a year or more in advance. NESC's rinks are generally available from 6 a.m. until aer midnight, with costs for an hour of ice rental ranging from $154 to $385, depending on the season and time of day, according to the venue's website. e rink employs around 70 workers and saw around 1 million visitors in 2023, according to stats provided to the WBJ Research Department. Marlborough, a MetroWest commu- nity of about 41,000 people, has nearly 1,500 hotel rooms. at's about 600 more than Worcester, a city about five times its population size. While corporations based in Marl- borough also contribute to the large amount of hotel rooms, by far the big- gest driver for the small city's 10 hotels is the existence of the New England Sports Center, said Harris. "Even here in the last 10 years, the Hyatt and the Fairfield were added to the market, and those hotels are pretty full most of the time," she said. "e sports center is able to sustain the number of hotels that we have here in Marlborough." Keeping the ice frozen Like other businesses, hockey venues have been dealing with rising costs of operation, with a major factor being rising energy costs, said Derek Alfa- ma, general manager and director of business development for the Fidelity W Bank Worcester Ice Center. is job is part of his role with Edge Sports Global, a Wellesley-based firm tasked with run- ning the venue by Beverly-based Rucker Investments, the venue's owner. Constructed in 2017 for $18 million, the two-rink venue sees about 550,000 to 700,000 visitors a year, said Alfama. He estimates hockey accounts for over 90% of the rink's business, compared to figure skating. Hosting about a half-dozen youth hockey programs and around 18 tour- naments a year, Alfama said the rink plays an important role in the economy of the growing Canal District. "at's 18 weekends a year, if not more, where we have outside families coming in and looking to spend at hotels, restaurants, and Polar Park," he said. "All those things that are within striking distance of the ice center, so there's a tremendous economic impact to the city and the surrounding towns." Alfama, a parent himself, doesn't see the guardians of youth hockey players cutting back on what they spend on their kids' playing careers, even as work- ing-class families deal with the costs of inflation. "I know people are feeling the pinch, but when you have kids, you get them to do their activities, especially with team activities and the opportunity to grow as an individual and learn how to deal with adversity," he said. The rise of club teams First recognized as a nonprofit in 1989, Marlborough-based Triboro Youth Hockey Association is the home for house-level players in the communi- ties of Marlborough, Southborough, and Westborough, as well as other area cities and towns without a program designat- ed by Massachusetts Hockey. Triboro's focus on house-level teams means it's a place for parents more focused on keeping their children entertained and helping them develop life skills rather than becoming the next Bobby Orr. Players aren't rejected due to a lack of skills, and the organization works cooperatively with parents when money or a lack of equipment becomes an issue. "Triboro's purpose is to give kids access to hockey, and we are one of the cheapest options around, if not the cheapest," said Dan Larson, a member of Triboro's board. "It doesn't matter skill level, how many years they've been playing. If they can skate well or not skate well, they're going to get equal ice time. So it's a different mantra than a lot of the more competitive club stuff." Season fees for Triboro range from $1,000 to $2,450, depending on age level and season length. Getting players to come back the next year has become a challenge, and it's not due to a lack of enthusiasm for the sport. Instead, Triboro has been consis- tently losing players to more elite and competition-focused teams like the Minuteman Flames of Marlborough or the Junior Railers Hockey Club in Worcester. Some older players are even bypass- ing high school hockey, once seen as a House youth hockey programs Hockey-loving Central Massachusetts has more than 1,300 youth players between ages 9 and 14 playing for house-level teams part of Massachusetts Hockey. These teams focus more on recreation than playing at the highest level possible. No. of players Program President (ages 9-14) Natick Comets Hockey Club Michael Balcom 216 Framingham Youth Hockey Robert Laprel 207 Acton Boxboro Youth Hockey, Boxborough John O'Connor 169 Worcester Junior Crusaders Youth Hockey Michael Chrisholm 157 Central Mass Revolution, Northborough Kristine Bissonnette 128 North Central Mass Youth Hockey, Gardner Richard Hylan 112 Nashoba Youth Hockey, Westford Michael Bonenfant 100 Triboro Youth Hockey, Marlborough Kurt Sjostedt 95 Groton Crusaders Youth Hockey Mike Eagleston 76 Twin City Youth Hockey, Leominster Ken Howlett 30 Demons Youth Hockey, Holliston Tyler Vivian 23 SMS Youth Hockey Club, Stow Chris Mellen Unavailable Sources: 2024-25 Massachusetts Hockey Annual Guide and website, indiviual organization websites New England Sports Center in Marlborough is more than 280,000 square feet and the largest ice sports venue in North America. PHOTO | COURTESY OF NEW ENGLAND SPORTS CENTER Triboro has been fielding house-level teams for over 35 years, but the nonprofit is feeling the pinch from players leaving for more competitive and expensive club teams. PHOTO | COURTESY OF TRIBORO YOUTH HOCKEY ASSOCIATION

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