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IT ALWAYS BEGINS WITH A NEED. In the Dallas-Forth Worth area, it was a desperate need for ice in the southern part of the Dallas Metroplex. Enter Children's Health StarCenter- Mansfield, an 80,000 square-foot facility with two sheets which opened in August 2018, doing its part to fulfill that need and grow the sport in Texas. Bringing it Down South When the Minnesota North Stars relo- cated to Dallas in 1993, there were only five sheets of ice in the area. That num- ber quickly changed, thanks to work done by the Dallas Stars organization, opening StarCenters around the region in attempts to not only gain exposure for the newly franchised Texas team, but expose hockey and on-ice activities to families in the Lone Star State. "It's not a place where people grow up knowing hockey," explained Bryan Lee, general manager of StarCenter- Mansfield. "It's new for a lot of these people. Once they get on the ice, they want to go to a (Stars) game, buy a T-shirt. It's just growing the game of hockey." With the Stars organization working diligently to add more and more ice facili- ties, it's only natural that each StarCenter is branded with Dallas Stars logos and colors on full display. "It's kind of like a living billboard," Lee said. "It's a great model to try to intro- duce kids to hockey." 16 / NOVEMBER.DECEMBER.2019 USICERINKS.COM PHOTOS: CHILDREN'S HEALTH STARCENTER The Latest Children's Health StarCenter in Mansfield, Texas, Adds More Opportunities for Hockey in the Lone Star State // by RYAN WILLIAMSON Featured Rink Children's Health StarCenter | | Mansfield, Texas Star Is Born Another