Weekly Vancouver floor hockey game comes to an end after 59 years

For nearly six decades, a group of men has come together on Friday nights to play floor hockey in a Vancouver school gym. This week however, was their last hurrah.

The gym at David Lloyd George Elementary School is set to be torn in the coming weeks, leaving the group without a place to play.

“It’s been a lot of fun all these years," said Jerry Simmons, the man who started the game and a former student of the school.

"I often think of some of our close friends who are not with us anymore who played, so it is an emotional night for me,” he said.

Many players have come and gone over the years, but Simmons and his friend Vik Sideroff have remained the two constants.

"Lots of memories, lots of memories,” said Sideroff.

"It makes you get out and exercise because if I didn’t come here, I'd probably be sitting around watching TV,” he said.

Many of the men are now in their 70s and 80s, but the game has stretched down through generations, with many of their sons joining in.

"They're very intense yeah, we're a bit less intense. You might say were damn slow,” joked long-time participant, Bill Stroet.

Fast or slow, win or lose, the game was always followed with a couple of cold beers.

"We spend hours arguing in the pub,” said Stroet. “It’s not the best part of the game, but certainly a good part of it,” he continued.

Simmons says they aren’t quite ready to call it a day and are on the lookout for a new location, but he says the Vancouver School Board has some concerns about renting out facilities for floor hockey.

“They’re kind of reluctant now to allow hockey sticks on new floors,” Stroet said.

“But hopefully we can find something and keep going,”

While the future of the weekly game is uncertain, what is for certain is that the Friday nights at David Lloyd George won’t soon be forgotten.

"Got to love this place, we've spent a lot of years here.”