Heather Wright/The Independent

The growth of girls hockey has prompted a movement for another ice pad in Petrolia.

Kelly Bailey and Lisa Vanderwal, who call themselves dedicated hockey moms, have started a petition on Change.org to prove the community wants a second ice pad.

Bailey, who is a member of the girls hockey organization Lambton Attack, says the hockey club has a difficult time finding ice time.

The club only secured four hours of ice time a week in Petrolia, with the rest of the ice secured in Alvinston, Watford and Glencoe. “It’s not ideal, but that’s the closest arena we could find to pick up more ice that we needed,” Bailey tells The Independent.

And it’s not just the girls having a hard time with ice time; Bailey’s seven year-old son regularly practices with Petrolia Minor Hockey at 7 am Saturday and Sunday.

“Between the figure skaters, the Squires, the Flyers, and then any rec leagues, it’s basically next to impossible to get ice time,” says Bailey.

“We believe the construction of an additional ice pad would not only allow more ice time for public use, but also create opportunities for local teams to host tournaments, promoting fitness, family time, and community bonding,” Bailey and Vanderwal write in their online petition.

They add during the summer it could transform into an area for ball hockey games or leagues or a roller-skating area beyond.

Bailey, who has played hockey since she was a child, says there has been talk for a long time that the community needs more ice. That talk has become more frequent as the girls’ hockey league became more popular.

“Lambton Attack has only been around for 10 years. They host all the girls, so they basically had started with one or two teams, and now we are up to 13 teams…we are at our record number of teams,” Bailey says.

“I played on the very first girls’ team that started in Petrolia, that …was through Petrolia Minor Hockey. We struggled to find girls to make that team. Now I’m constantly getting calls, even now that the season has started, and they’re saying, ‘my daughter wants to play hockey.’”

“We need a second ice pad. And I know people are talking about it all the time,” says Bailey adding “ nobody’s ever really done anything about it to try and get the town to do it.”

A second ice pad has not been a topic of discussion around the Petrolia council table. The Greenwood arena has undergone extensive repairs in the past few years and town employees have raised the idea of a replacement for the arena, however that could be years down the road.

And the cost to run an arena is high. In the last decade, the Greenwood has run a deficit with taxpayers supporting the building. This year taxpayers will shell out $260,000 this year.

If the Town of Petrolia is unable or unwilling to go it alone, Bailey says they’re willing to approach other municipalities to pitch in.

“You’ve got all these other towns that are coming to use your ice; maybe everyone needs to come together and figure out how we can make this happen.

“I have gone to a lot small towns that have massive arenas with double ice pads and I’m like, ‘so they can do it, , why can’t we do it?’”

Bailey hopes to collect enough signatures on the petition to show this is not just an item a few people are interested in.

“(We’re) trying to get something to show that there is a need for it, and people want it, and there is the opportunity.“I’m just trying to get something rolling on the ball to show that we need to look at this and be serious about considering putting one in.”

The online petition can be found at Change.org with the title “Support Our Community and Help us Build an Additional Ice Rink.”