When he’s not on the ice playing or coaching, he is bag full of new additions.
teaching his two young sons who both play hockey
in the youth leagues at Daytona Ice Arena.
Although he no longer plays professional
hockey, Grimes continues to be an avid player
as a goalie and a forward in Daytona’s adult
hockey league.
While those at the Daytona Ice Arena have
always worked towards the goal of expanding
hockey programs in Florida, they have not
always had the resources to do so.
Their partnership with DME has opened many
doors for hockey players, figure skaters, and
recreational skaters alike.
The sports academy provides the funding
needed to organize and establish both
educational and competitive youth hockey
programs.
In a wave of progress and transformation, the
Ice Arena is also establishing a youth house
league, something that the rink has not yet
been able to provide to young children around
Volusia County.
“We are working hard to make youth hockey a
priority in Daytona. We’re trying to get people
that are local here.
We have a lot of people that live here in
Daytona, and that live in Palm Coast that drive
right past us to play at other rinks. I personally
don’t understand why that should happen,”
Grimes said.
Wanting to provide more opportunities for
young people in Florida to enjoy hockey,
Grimes has reached out to former Daytona
hockey players to return to the Ice Arena and
experience the new direction the rink has
taken with its hockey programs on all levels.
With that, the ultimate goal is to grow hockey
throughout the Daytona Beach and the Volusia
County community.
“It’s more of a priority for us right now to
produce better teammates than we are great
hockey players.
We want to produce great hockey players
also, but hockey at some point will end for
everybody,” Grimes said.
“I mean, you could play 20 years in the NHL,
or you could play two years of high school, and
it’s going to end at some point. After it ends,
we still want them to be good teammates
because of what we’ve done at an early age,”
he said.
Ice hockey of all levels in Daytona Beach is
expected to flourish in the coming seasons
with the efforts of Grimes, his fellow coaches
and staff at the Daytona Ice Arena, and the
ever-growing vision of DME Sports Academy.
It has been an exciting show watching the Ice
Arena transform their decades old facility.
From mere hearsay of contracts and expansion,
to blueprints and graphic concepts, the
community has celebrated the much-awaited
completion of rink renovations with a hockey
The Ice Arena now offers a remodeled first
floor including a revamped service area, a
new inventory of rental skates, an upgraded
dining area, as well as renovated locker rooms
and bathrooms, and a completely modernized
second floor sports pub and restaurant called
Celly’s.
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