The One Roof Foundation last weekend officially launched the Verlo Sport Court in Tacoma, a refurbished 5,000-square-foot, fenced-in concrete playing surface for street hockey, basketball and other activities
Pete Reyes smiled while glancing at dozens of local youths playing ball hockey on a freshly laid and painted concrete court alongside Kraken mascot Buoy and television broadcaster JT Brown.
Parks Tacoma commissioner Reyes had attended Saturday’s ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of Verlo Sport Court, a $225,000 project spearheaded by the One Roof Foundation (ORF), the NHL and Virginia Mason Franciscan Health to transform an existing basketball court into a 5,000-square-foot multi-sport playing facility. The Verlo Playfield location, decorated with artwork from local youth, has fenced-in features for ball hockey, basketball and modified soccer futsal with permanent sports equipment to encourage play.
“I mean, we’re in the east side of Tacoma right now and this has been a historically underserved community,” Reyes said. “So, having this here is such a treasure because this (hockey setup) wasn’t an accessible thing for them. So, I’m really glad it’s here.”
Saturday’s ribbon cutting, hosted by Kraken radio play-by-play man Everett Fitzhugh, was attended by a bevy of community leaders, NHL, team, and ORF officials.
The project was first announced by ORF — the community and charity arm of the Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena — in the days leading up to the outdoor NHL Winter Classic game on Jan. 1, 2024, between the Kraken and Vegas Golden Knights.
It’s the second of five such courts being developed by ORF in an ongoing effort to increase access to play by providing equipment, resources, and programs throughout the Puget Sound area. The first court opened two years ago in Bryn Mawr-Skyway with a celebrity 3-on-3 ball hockey tournament featuring Kraken Hockey Network analyst Brown and former Seahawks receiver Jermain Kearse.
The refurbished Verlo Sport Court features built-in hockey nets, new basketball hoops and freshly painted lines with a Kraken logo at the center.
“We know that there are incredible benefits for young people from play and playing sport, from self-esteem to leadership and improving mental health,” ORF executive director Mari Horita said. “But across our region, many children do not have access to low-cost sports or spaces, which is why we are so thrilled to see this court come completed, and just in time for the summer vacation.”
Saturday’s opening of the court featured street hockey clinics for about 100 youth. Further such ball hockey programming is to continue this summer, enabling hundreds of local children to begin using the court year-round.
Kraken sponsor Brooks Running was also on-site at Saturday’s event offering running clinics to the youth on-hand. Free shoes and shirts were given out to pre-registered applicants while members of Brooks Beasts Track Club, a Seattle-based professional team that includes national champions, world record setters and Olympians in 800-meter-to-5,000-meter races, guided groups of youths through a series of running drills.
Ketul J. Patel, CEO of Virginia Mason Franciscan Health and President of CommonSpirit Health’s Northwest Region said the VMFH mandate involves meeting the needs of communities it serves. And Patel feels the Verlo Sport Park project aligns perfectly.
“We are honored to work alongside the Seattle Kraken and other community partners to bring this vision to life,” Patel said. “Creating more spaces for children to play freely is an investment in a healthier future for all.”
Deepak Devasthali, president of Tacoma-based, VMHF-affiliated St. Joseph’s Medical Center, was one of the invited speakers at Saturday’s ribbon cutting and echoed Patel’s remarks – describing how healthier youth can lead to fewer hospital visits.
Former Edmonton Oilers captain Andrew Ference, now the NHL’s director of social impact, growth and fan development, was also among the invited speakers. Ference once played for the nearby Portland Winterhawks and said street hockey has always been a key part of the sport’s culture within the region.
But integrating street hockey with other sports, he added, will be an important component to helping Verlo Court thrive.
“I took a job at the National Hockey League and we helped develop the multi-sport system we see here with the basketball and the hockey net at the bottom,” Ference said. “We imagine kids playing, yes, of course street hockey. But also throwing a lacrosse ball against the boards, shooting hoops, playing every sport possible.
“Because we believe deeply that active kids are going to create more friends, they’re going to have more memories, they’re going to be healthy and all of the great things that come with sports.”
Watching local youngsters race around with new ball hockey sticks they were free to take home, Parks Tacoma commissioner Reyes agreed that maintaining the Verlo Court’s prior basketball roots while expanding it to hockey and other uses was the way to go.
“This particular field is beautiful because it was already activated by our hoopers, our basketball players,” Reyes said. “But now, we’re getting in a much broader swath of the kids. And activating kids at a young age is so vital. It’s so crucial for their development.”
