Youth hockey program growing at Fresno's Gateway Ice Center

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- With the Stanley Cup Finals back on ABC, we were on the lookout for stories featuring the Fresno Falcons.

Before the minor league team folded in 2008, there was one man who brought joy to the entire arena with his dances during timeouts. "Back home in Fresno, California I was also known as 'Cotton Eye Joe," said Kenny Ruiz. The Fresno State grad grew up going to Falcons games and saw the dance as a way to give back to the fans. "There's a whole lot worse things I could've been doing at 15 or 16," Ruiz said. "I have run into some people in Texas that are familiar with the Falcons back in the day and are like 'Oh my gosh! You're Cotton Eye Joe!' I'm like how this happened 1500 miles away is just mind-blowing." Ruiz now coaches a 16u travel team in Dallas and his son, who started playing the game in Fresno, is heading to play next year to the equivalent of Triple AAA hockey in Colorado.

Back in the Valley, the next generation of hockey players are still being developed. "I played in this hockey club," said Mark Haupt. "I was one of the first kids to ever sign up for the Fresno junior hockey club." Nearly 50 years later Haupt, who played for the Falcons in the early 1990's, heads Fresno's youth hockey program.

Every Monday at the Gateway Ice Center "Try Hockey for Free" allows anyone access to the ice. "They get to come out here and try it completely free," Haupt said. "We provide all the gear, we provide everything."

That gear thanks in part to grants provided by Dick's Sporting Goods. "We were one of the 75For75 grant recipients this year which really helped us to buy more equipment for the learn to play," said Marcel Bourdase, head coach of the Fresno jr. Monsters 10U Squirts.

Since starting the program four years ago it's grown from serving less than 50 kids to more than 300. "You really start to see the kids, first time they may not be so sure and then by the time they're done they're having a blast," Haupt said.

So while the pro team in Fresno may be just a memory, the handful of travel junior teams like those playing at Gateway Ice are still carrying the spirit of the Falcons and keeping the sport of hockey going in the Central Valley.

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