South Jersey Ice Hockey:
High Ridge Ice Arena Looking To Be Different

Wednesday, April 12, 2000

By Mike Costantino
SJSports Staff Writer

There's a new kid in town and her name is High Ridge, an ice rink located on Route 561 in Gibbsboro, and they want to appeal to all demographics. Built and owned by developer Kevin Hughes, who purchased the land nine years ago and has built properties surrounding the rink, the concept is to appeal to the community by offering figure skating, some ice hockey and open skating to the public.

Rob Harkins is the director of operations at High Ridge and spent the last three years managing Twin Rinks in Pensauken. "Our goal is to be more diverse than the other rinks. Most rinks now have a majority of the ice time earmarked for hockey, we want to have everyone enjoy our facility," mentioned Harkins. The only hockey club as of today that has committed to High Ridge is the Jaguars Youth Hockey League which fields teams ranging from ages 7-17.

On Wednesday night the rink hosted its first hockey game, Camden County against Burlington County in a SJHSIHL all-star game. And the only thing missing was the game clock, which has not been installed yet. Everything went pretty smooth and both teams raved about the ice. Harkins knows about starting from scratch, originally from Elkins Park, PA. He played his hockey in Willow Grove and helped re-build the rink there after a fire. His desire to succeed should only help High Ridge meet its objectives.

Photos by Boog Williams