It's an opportunity for recreation and competition, sans the cold of an icy arena.
With eight teams spread over two leagues, and a history dating back some 25 years, ball hockey is alive and well in Prince George.
The masters league plays Tuesday nights at the Roll-A-Dome, while the younger set in the open league hit the same floor on Sundays.
"The masters league (40-and-over)has been going for 11 years, but before that it had different divisions," said league organizer Hartley Miller.
"The good thing with ball hockey in Prince George is that there's a place for the younger guys who want to play, and that's on Sunday nights."
Each league has four teams, with roughly 15 signed up per team, which computes to an overall participation of some 120 players.
At the league's height, Miller said, there were three divisions with a combined total of 12 teams.
"Our numbers are about the same as they have been for a few years," said Miller.
"There are a number of former junior hockey players on the teams, they play rec hockey and continue to play ball hockey when they can. We make it a very competitive league, we pay our referees well, we pay the facility a good fee, and people realize there's a fee required to be involved. It's competitive, but at the same time it's fun and at our age there is a lot of camaraderie, a lot of respect for each other, an everyone realizes no one is probably retired yet and people have to get up the next day for work.
"Everyone does seem to enjoy their two hours of exercise."
The schedules are set up so teams play double-headers on gamenights, and that mixes up the opponents over the season. The league is taking a break now for the holidays, but will pick up again in the second week of January. Playoffs are slated for the beginning of March.
"Often, with the double-headers, you'll see one team win one game and maybe even by a lopsided score, and then lose the next one," said Miller.
The top team in the masters division, Cap-abilities, is undefeated with a 15-0-1 record, holding a healthy lead on Alison's/Bench Rentals. Mr. Jake's Steakhouse sits third, with the Pizza Hut Slicers well behind in not only the win-loss record, but in the goals-for department.
"On paper, we probably have the strongest team," said Miller, who plays for Cap-abilities.
"We probably have ex-junior (hockey) players and more combined experience than the other three teams, but depending on what night it is and which players make it out, the other three teams are capable of knocking us off. If you look at the standings it would look like it's a little bit of a lopsided league, but I think if you were to ask the other three teams they'd say they look forward to the challenge of beating a collection of guys who have quite a bit of hockey experience."
