Coach turns backyard into 80-foot ice rink each year to serve youth hockey team

FRANKLIN, Wis. (WTMJ) - A Wisconsin man is really passionate about hockey. He is so into the sport that he’s even built a massive ice rink in his own backyard.

The ice rink isn’t just for his sons. It’s for the team of 10-year-old players he coaches.

“It is just a fast-paced, high-energy game that I have always loved,” Jake Howell said.

Now, the Howells’ backyard is filled with strikes and screams, and the Shaw Timberwolves have a rink all to themselves.

“I don’t have to go to a rink to skate. I can just go to my backyard and mess around,” Emmett, Jake and Jamie Howell’s son, said.

Now, the coach and his wife, Jamie Howell, host the practices, and they have grown the rink year after year.

“This is the biggest it’s ever been and I don’t think it can get bigger unless we tear the deck down,” Jamie Howell joked.

The rink is 80 feet by 40 feet. While kids skate, parents stay warm by the fire and watch.

“Seeing their love and passion for the game is probably one of the best things I’d say in life, especially for my son,” Jake Howell said. “We have our own little microcosm of culture here, but we would love to see that grow in the community.”

For the coach and his team, the backyard rink does more than build memories. It’s something they depend on.

In their area in Franklin, the team only has access to one indoor rink and they often share that ice with two other teams.

“When it comes down to it, there just isn’t enough ice for the kids,” Jake Howell said.

The Southeastern Hockey Association of Wisconsin is raising funds for a new rink, according to Jake Howell.

“It takes a lot of money and desire from the community,” he added.

But for now, the personal rink is bringing the Timberwolves together.

“They are all my friends, and every time, they have my back,” Emmett said.

The rink also sparked a lifelong love for the game, from the backyard to beyond.

“That’s what I hope they get out of it, that passion, that fun, and then when they grow up, they think back to this and how much fun it was,” Jake Howell said.

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