Michigan Dad Builds Hockey Rink For Kids

This Dad in Livonia deserves "Father of the Year" for building his sons a "Field of Dreams" in their backyard. He didn't just build the hockey arena for his family, but for the neighborhood kids to come play too.

Lance Antrobius and his wife, Samantha, said the backyard was the reason they purchased the house. They envisioned their kids playing hockey on the homemade rink one day. The rink has everything from flood lights to a locker room. Are you wondering how Antrobius stopped pucks from flying through neighbors windows?

“I made the boards out of plywood and two-by-fours and painted them white. There’s chicken wire above the boards to help prevent pucks from flying into the neighbors’ yards. For the ice, I put up some boards, wrapped pool liner over them and I just flood the area with water and wait as Mother Nature lets it freeze.”

In order to maintain the ice, Antrobius scraps off the snow with a large shovel, hoses down the rink and uses a little Zamboni with a rag to smooth out the ice. Want to check the rink out? Here's a video from MLive.

I grew up with two older brothers who played hockey, so I basically grew up in a hockey arena. We didn't have an entire rink in the backyard, but we did get lucky. Our yard was lower than the rest of our neighbors, so when it would rain, the yard would flood. In the winter, all we had to do was shovel off the snow so we could play on the ice. It's actually the first place we took my youngest nephew skating.

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