Five-year-old Eli Maniaci fidgeted in the equipment room of the McFarland Community Ice Arena while he was being fitted for hockey gear.

The room with cinder-block walls and a concrete floor was filled with an assortment of adult volunteers, young children and their parents. Wooden slats – normally used by hockey players and other ice skaters for sitting while lacing up skates – are filled with plastic totes containing different sizes of hockey equipment, mostly for children in kindergarten through elementary school.

Eli is entering his second year of playing hockey under the Learn to Skate program developed by the McFarland Hockey Boosters and the McFarland Youth Hockey Association.

Eli’s father, John, watched admirably as his son tried on an assortment of equipment to protect his hips, shoulders and elbows.

“The biggest thing we hear from all the coaches is that the kids are having fun,” said Maniaci. “Eli liked this a lot last year. He likes being on the ice and being with his friends. He falls down and he gets back up.”