Even the Michigan's of the world are having trouble finding ice time for
their youth leagues. Last season, what is the Macomb Youth Hockey league
in suburban Detroit turned away ~350 kids due to a lack of ice time.
This problem will be alleviated with the opening of a new 2 surface
facility in Mount Clemens in October. Outside the Metro Detroit area,
other communities are also feeling the pressure of not being able to
accommodate all interested youth. Two college towns, Big Rapids (Ferris
State University) and Marquette (Northern Michigan University), are
worried that they may have to turn away kids for the first time. There
just isn't enough ice in that popular 5 to 10 pm time slot.