Exclusive: Florida Warriors president talks misunderstanding with city

A beloved hockey program is headed back to the ice after what the city is calling “a misunderstanding.”

On Friday, the president of Florida Warriors Hockey got a letter saying that starting July 1, his program’s rink access at the Fort Myers Skatium would be cut from 48 hours a month to only eight hours a month.

That’s not enough practice time for a multi-team program, so it ultimately meant the season was canceled.

Now, the program is told its season will proceed as normal.

WINK Sports reporter Sylvie Sparks spoke exclusively to the Warriors’ president after this issue was resolved and had his response.

President Rich Dantona told us his phone has been ringing off the hook since Friday when Warrior families found out they may not have a season.

Monday morning, the Warriors sat down with the city’s parks and recreation department and got their ice time back.

Cheers erupted when protestors heard the Florida Warriors’ hockey season was saved.

Since Friday, these families thought the travel hockey program they’ve loved for years was no more.

“I got 200 phone calls, 300 emails, if ever, I had to be reminded of why I do this, it was the last 48 hours,” Dantona said.

Players, coaches, and families protested outside the city’s parks and recreation department while Dantona and other Warriors representatives met with Parks and Rec director Elgin Hicks, who sent the letter.

“My son, he’s devastated. He’s like, ‘What are we going to do?’ I’m like, I don’t even have a plan,” said Kelly, a mom.

After resolving a miscommunication on the city’s end, the Warriors’ ice time was restored.

“We’re gonna chalk it up to a misunderstanding of ice scheduling. They wanted more of an in-house program that was run by the city. I don’t think that the city realized how important the program was,” Dantona said.

But to Dantona and the Warrior faithful, the program means so much.

“We handle this 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and in order to do that, you have to be prepared to do that, and I’m not sure that the city functions that way. Not that I’m taking anything away from their ability, but I believe that we have more access to be able to provide this service than anyone else.”

This letter came three days after the Warriors and the city’s rink manager, Heidi Haas, agreed on ice time through June 2025 and less than a week before tryouts.

“There’s players coming in from five different states for tryouts, so we now will have those tryouts uninterrupted with the support of the city, not in protest,” Dantona said.

While the last 48 hours were grueling, Dantona is actually grateful it happened.

“This is probably the best thing that could have happened for this organization because now it shows how many people actually care. This is not just a hockey team. This is a hockey family,” he said.

The Warriors and the city have not had a written agreement since the program’s inception five years ago. Dantona said he is now requesting one to protect the program and its athletes.

The 2023-2024 season will go on as usual.