Artists and athletes: New arena to help cultivate young talent in the valley

The new Coachella Valley arena, which broke ground Wednesday, will be a place for local youth to cultivate their talents, both on and off the ice.

“We’ve been without ice in the desert for over a year now,” said Dawn Loyola, the secretary of the Desert Figure Skating Club.

Since the Desert Ice Castle closed its doors last year, local youth hockey players and skaters have had to drive over an hour away to continue their sport.

“If you can imagine, you know, your favorite sport as a kid, all of a sudden crashing and stopping in one day and not having any availability of ice to train, so basically most of our kids have had to join these teams that were made up of kids from all over Southern California and the closest games and tournaments they could play in was Phoenix, Arizona," said Jeff Larson, hockey director of Desert Blaze Hockey here in the valley. "That’s been real difficult on our families.”

Many of these athletes, being forced to give up the sports they love all together.

“A lot of the kids have stopped playing. Some families have moved away. We’ve had families move to Canada… Los Angeles…” Larson said.

But things are starting to look up with the groundbreaking of the new Coachella Valley arena, home of the Seattle Kraken’s AHL affiliate and a facility that can be used for youth athletes to train and compete.

“The developers have really made it clear that they want to work with the community and have it open to the community. So it’s not just about the high-end hockey team, it’s about everyone in the community having access and having fun,” Loyola said.

“I’m already working on plans with them to have learn-to-play hockey, providing equipment, ice time, coaching, on a level that we have not been able to provide in the past,” Larson said.

And it’s not just sports...

“We have to develop musical talent the same way you’re going to develop hockey talent here. And I’ll have a race with you, I bet we create some stars quicker than you create some NHL hockey players," said Irving Azoff, an executive at Oak View Group, the developer of the arena.

There are plans to use the arena as a resource for local arts programs.

“Rehearsal space, sound stage, recording studios, and programs, you know, through the schools and through the college system down here to try and let local talent have its chance,” Azoff said.

The arena is set to open in the Fall of 2022.