Sitting on 80 acres off a private, snow-filled road in the Southern Tier, hockey dreams are coming true. But before this crew can take to ice each day, they’ve got a few jobs to take care of.

"Every day we come right from school, and me and Mazzio and Brock. We feed the pigs and the donkeys, and we have to go out and walk around the rink and pick up all the pucks that go over the glass so we have pucks for practice," said Will Pipher a right winger for Broome County Varsity Hockey.

"Whenever I get a snow day, I'm down here just clearing the ice with a skid steer and doing the Zamboni all day, pretty much," said Chris Pierce, a Broome County defenseman.

This outdoor rink was built by Larry and Christina Pierce when they noticed a void within the local hockey community, because up until recently, Ithaca was the only varsity team in Section IV. That meant if you wanted to play hockey for your high school, it had to be at the club level.

Enter these kids, from Vestal, Windsor and Seton who have combined to form Broome County Varsity Hockey. And they now have their own home ice.

"It’s pretty unique because you come home from school, go to the house and eat something and come down and play hockey. It’s in your backyard," said Joe Pierce, a defenseman.

"The other teams come in really excited about it and we kind of are used to it here, so we kind of have a more experience here as well," said Pipher.

“It’s a lot nicer than playing at a rink. A lot nicer to look out and not just see walls. A much better view," said goalie Peterson Kressly.

The outdoor rink was built over the course of three years. The boards came second hand, the scoreboard from Cornell, and with a little love and care, these kids now have a place to call home.

"They've definitely grown a little bit closer. They got to work together both on and off the ice now to get get things taken care of. There's not netting. So they've got to run around to find pucks, especially being from three different schools. They've helped with team building a little bit. And that's kind of the thing we're trying to do is build out a big culture around this," said Broome County head coach Jim Lalley.

Broome County Varsity Hockey plays a selection of teams from Sections III and V, with an outdoor game Saturday under the lights.