BUTLER TWP — Hockey is not considered a winter sport at Butler Township Park.

Butler Dek Hockey sees players from 3 years old up to adults enjoying the sport at the special rink at the park on South Duffy Road.

Rick Double, who has managed Butler Dek Hockey for three years, said each of the five age divisions for players aged 3 to 18 contains five teams each. Double said there are about 15 players on each team.

Played with sneakers instead of inline or ice skates, Double said the sport allows all athletes to play, regardless of skill level.

"Unlike baseball or football, everyone gets to play," said Double. "Everyone gets to touch the puck."

Players wear leg and elbow pads, protective gloves and a helmet along with their sneakers, said Double, but there is no physical contact in dek hockey as there is in ice hockey.

Players aged 3 to 6 are placed in the Chipmunk league; ages 7 to 10 in the Penguins; ages 11 and 12 are Beavers; 13 to 16 are Cadets; and 17- and 18-year-olds play in the Freshman league. Double said about 20 of those players are girls.

Double said the five teams in each league play against one another, then compete for the championship at the end of the season. He said because Butler Dek Hockey has three seasons — spring, summer and fall — athletes can enjoy almost a year of play.

Double said most players who start in the Chipmunk or Penguin leagues continue to play up through the Freshman level, and many play outside the organization in the winter.

"A lot of them transfer to ice hockey," said Double. "(Dek hockey) is good conditioning, and it helps with stickhandling skills for ice hockey players in the offseason."

Double said Butler High School's varsity ice hockey team uses the dek hockey facility for dry land practice in the off-season, as has the Armstrong Arrows ice hockey league.

Double got into dek hockey through his sons, 10th grader R.C. and fifth grader Troy, who play both dek and ice hockey, as well as roller hockey.

"That's about all we do," Double said, laughing.

New this year at the dek hockey rink is a concession stand with restrooms, storage room and offices, finished last year as part of a $236,000 project that included repaving the parking lot and landscaping.

Township manager Gerald Patterson Jr. said the project was paid for with a $97,700 grant from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, $97,700 in matching funds donated by the Butler Township Area Water and Sewer Authority, and the rest from township funds.

Double said the adult dek hockey league, which contains players older than 18, has 10 teams with an average of eight players per team.

"Men and women play together, although there are not many women who play in the adult league," said Double.

The ultimate hockey dad says he enjoys his duties as Butler Dek Hockey manager, which entails setting up teams, coordinating games on a single rink, and selecting coaches for each team.

But the thing he likes most is seeing the young players learning the concept of teamwork and getting some exercise instead of pursuing some of the more unsavory activities available to them in this day and age.

"It keeps them off the street," Double said.

For information on Butler Dek Hockey, including fees and schedules, visit www.butlerdekhockey.com or call Double at 724-285-5007 or 724-290-0637.

Eagle staff writer Jeff Andrasovsky contributed to this report.

If you're interested in a sport, you can contact these national organizations for information:<B>Dek Hockey:</B><B>Name: </B>International Dek Hockey Tournament Association<B>Address: </B>56 Mead St., Leominster, MA 01453<B>Phone: </B>978-537-6711<B>FAX: 9</B>78-534-3460<B>E-mail:</B> info@idtadekhockey.com<B>Web: </B>www.idtadekhockey.com<B>Laser Tag:</B><B>Name: </B>International Laser Tag Association<B>Address: </B>Suite 236, 5351 E. Thompson Ave., Indianapolis IN 46237<B>Phone:</B> 317-786-9755<B>FAX: </B>317-786-9757<B>E-mail: </B>privacy@lasertag.org<B>Web: </B>www.lasertag.org