Tampa Bay Lightning invest in Pinellas Park sports complex 

The Tampa Bay Lightning’s outdoor hockey rink in Pinellas Park is set to re-open with major improvements. It will be located at the Sprowls Horizon Sports Park, which is currently under construction. 

A $100,000 grant from the Lightning Foundation is being used to make the enhancements. 

The complex, formerly known as Youth Park, will open in February 2026. Alongside the hockey rink, it will feature six turf diamonds and six batting cages for baseball, a multipurpose field and a playground. 

For the Lightning organization, the project is a continuation of its investment in the Pinellas Park community. 

The Lightning helped fund the building of the rink at Youth Park in 2019, said the team’s director of community and hockey development Josh Dreith. 

Once the City of Pinellas Park informed the organization of the Sprowls redevelopment project, its team decided to upgrade the rink. The improvements include new flooring, benches and a scorebox. Additionally, the rink will be moved to a new location in the park. 

Re-opening and improving the rink was an easy decision. 

“It’s important for the growth of hockey in the Pinellas County area,” Dreith explained. “We want to give young kids the opportunity to learn the game of hockey after we visit them at a school. Now, they have the opportunity to go play in their local community.” 

He added that this is the only hockey rink in Pinellas Park and is equally for adults. “It’s a unique offering to that community.” 

The Lightning will not only just sponsor the rink upgrades, but be a partner in the launching of the Sprowls Horizon Sports Park. It will help the facility’s staff start “consistent programming.” 

Dreith highlighted how the complex’s redevelopment reflects Pinellas Park’s desire to create a state of the art athletic facility for all ages. As an example, he explained how the new turf diamonds were designed based on Major League Baseball spring training fields. 

“It’s a huge investment to the City of Pinellas Park,” he said. “It’s already a new and unique facility and now we’re also able to add our own little spin to it.” 

In a prepared statement, Pinellas Park City Manager Bart Diebold spoke about the partnership with the Lightning.“Our greatest hope is that as kids step onto this rink, seeing that iconic Lightning logo, they’ll be inspired to dream big – envisioning themselves as the next Nikita Kucherov or Victor Hedman, and believing anything is possible.” 

Construction commenced at the Sprowls Horizon Sports Park facility in December 2024.