he continues to pass
along his knowledge to
the next generations.
Grimes coached professional roller hockey
for two years in Colorado after three years of
playing the sport at the professional level.
His coaching then took him to youth ice
hockey in Colorado where he coached 8U to
16U teams and was able to bring two National
Finals championships home with his 14U ice
hockey team.
Grimes’ skill coaching is built from his own
experience playing hockey at the professional
level for seven years.
“I moved to Daytona when I was 11. When
I was 14, my brother was the equipment
manager for the Sun Devils Daytona’s former
professional ice hockey team when they
started here. So, I started playing hockey with
those guys with no experience ever playing
hockey,” Grimes said.
“By the time I was 17, I ended up playing my
first pro game, and after that I was able to go
up and play juniors in Saskatchewan, Canada.
I had a weird road to hockey, compared to a
lot of people,” Grimes said, laughing.
A New Skate of
Mind for Daytona
Youth Hockey
Now With a Plan In Place The Vision Has
Come Alive
By Reba LaRose
Daytona Beach, home to sunshine and
beautiful ocean views is becoming
a main attraction for ice hockey in Central
Florida.
One of the latest additions to the area’s
hockey community is the expansion of youth
hockey programs at the Daytona Ice Arena,
as a result of a recent partnership with DME
Sports Academy and a total of $1.5 million in
upgrades.
As a part of the business merger with the
rink, DME has managed upgrades for not
only building renovations, but for front office
efforts as well.
One of these upgrades was the appointment of
new hockey director, Mackie Grimes, a former
professional hockey player and coach.
Along with new front office additions, the DME
partnership sparked the transformation of the
Daytona Racers junior team into the Daytona
Swamp Rabbits.
The Swamp Rabbits currently lead the Florida
Division (18-8) of the USPHL and are ranked
ninth in the Premier Conference.
Those are just some of the many changes
that came to the ice in recent months at the
Daytona Ice Arena. In the past, Daytona’s
youth hockey programs were limited to only
10U and 12U teams.
This season, the rink introduced an 8U team to
their growing youth program, giving more local
kids the opportunity to learn and advance
close to home for the first time.
“My main priority is growing
the youth hockey out of
Daytona.
I was able to get an 8U
program started right away.
So next season I’m working towards having
8U all the way up to 16U. I’m working hard,”
Grimes said.
In addition to the 12U, 10U, and 8U teams,
Grimes also oversees the three adult leagues,
the Racers youth travel league, as well as the
newly launched Take a Shot at Hockey program
geared towards school children throughout
Volusia County.
The program hosts educational field trips
to the Ice Arena to introduce students to
the sport of hockey, both on and off the ice,
providing new helmets and sticks to use during
their time on the ice.
“What we’ll do is teach them about the ice,
we teach them about the Zamboni and how
everything works,” Grimes said. “Then we also
give them an hour and a half to two hours of
ice time for them to try hockey for free.”
So far, more than 100 school kids have
participated in the Take a Shot at Hockey
program, and each of them went home with
more than smiles and fun memories, they all
received an official Take a Shot at Hockey
jersey.
No stranger to coaching youth hockey, Grimes
brings his years of experience to the ice as
Mackie Grimes
New Hockey Director
Photos provided by: Mackie Grinds
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