After introducing an ice rink to the Dillon Reservoir last year, the town of Dillon this year is expanding its winter recreation programming with weekly drop-in ice hockey and broomball games.

Recreation department employees cleared the snow from the rink Friday. Feb. 3, in anticipation of opening it within the next week and starting drop-in games the following week, Dillon Recreation Manager Terese Berger said. 

“We’re really trying to build upon what we already have,” Berger said. “We’re trying to give our community another place to gather and enjoy the outdoors.”

The town will host drop-in hockey games on Wednesday nights and drop-in broomball games on Thursday nights. Each night, two 45-minute games will feature teams of six players and run at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. There is a $10 registration fee to participate.

While players will be required to have their own skates, sticks and gear, the town will provide nets and pucks. Players must have helmets and protective equipment to participate and, for broomball, are required to wear shoes suitable for ice.

And, whenever the rink — which has been enlarged since last year — isn’t being used for ice hockey or broomball, it’s open throughout the day for residents and visitors to skate. However, the town does not have skates to rent, so people will have to bring their own.

“The rink will be lit every night until 9 p.m.,” Berger said. “So even when we don’t have hockey or broomball happening it will be a free amenity for the community to come out and enjoy.”

The reservoir will also be the location of two hockey tournaments this year, according to Suzanne Phillipson, Dillon’s marketing and communications manager. The Summit Youth Hockey Tournament will be held Feb. 11-12 and the Pabst Colorado Pond Hockey Tournament will be held Feb. 17-19.

The Summit Youth Hockey Tournament will include about 75 teams from across Colorado. And, with more than 250 teams, the Pabst Colorado Pond Hockey Tournament is expected to draw pond hockey players from as far as Wisconsin, Minnesota and Maine, according to Phillipson. 

“It’s a pretty big event for Dillon,” she said. “It’s one of the biggest pond hockey tournaments in the country.”

Pond hockey and broomball aren’t the only new activities at the reservoir that are potentially in store for this year either. While there is no guarantee that the program will launch before the end of the winter season, Berger said, “We’re hoping — fingers crossed — that we can get curling going this year too.”