PASADENA>> On Wednesday afternoons, when the weather gets hot and the days are long, the Rose Bowl’s Parking Lot K transforms into a hockey rink.

Around 5:30 p.m., once people are off of work, cars line up and form an impromptu dressing room so their drivers can lace up their inline skates, strap on their pads and tape up their sticks. Someone throws the two makeshift goals and a puck out into the open area in front of the cars, and they’re set – it’s a race against the clock to get in as much hockey as possible before the pick-up game ends due to darkness.

If you’re ever at the Rose Bowl on a Wednesday – maybe jogging, running, biking, etc. – chances are good that you’ve seen them. Maybe you stopped to help them retrieve a puck when it slips under the metal guard rails encompassing the parking lot.

The group, which has taken to calling itself Rose Bowl Hockey, has been playing hockey in Lot K for more than a decade. Their weekly pick-up game started in a search to find a flat, open space and continues as a summer tradition for both experienced players and newcomers.

Brian Arguijo’s first foray into hockey was at the Rose Bowl a decade ago. At age 26, he was learning to skate, and a decade later he’s one of the group’s elder statesmen.

He’s since moved out of the San Gabriel Valley and commutes from Chino Hills to play on Wednesdays, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“The Wednesday game is a real special game,” Arguijo said. “It’s where I started, and it’s a great way to break up the workweek.”

“Plus, it’s only a few days till the weekend when we can play even more hockey.”

Anyone with skates and a stick can come play just like he did 10 years ago, Arguijo said, though pads and helmets are recommended.

Arguijo operates the group’s social media accounts and its website, all of which he said have helped bring in new players over the years.

Lance Havens found the group in a Google search. He had just moved from the Westside to the Silverlake neighborhood of Los Angeles and was looking for places to play roller hockey after having played for UCLA’s club team.

“It’s hard to get on to a team – ice or roller – without already knowing someone,” said Havens, a 30-year-old school psychologist. “These guys welcomed me right away, and I’ve been coming back ever since.”

Part of the issue, the players say, is that inline hockey rinks are few and far between. The closest to the Rose Bowl are in Burbank and West Covina, and while many of the Rose Bowl hockey players participate in leagues at those rinks, neither location is easy to get to on a Wednesday afternoon, nor is either free to play.

Rose Bowl General Manager Darryl Dunn said he didn’t know the group played there, so he had no opinion of them one way or another. Locals have come to expect the hockey games, so they rarely park their cars in the area typically used for hockey, Arguijo said.

Passersby often stop to watch the game, sometimes because of how unusual it is to see hockey played in a parking lot and other times because they want to join in. On Wednesday, Colin Hanock was riding his bike around the Rose Bowl and stopped immediately when he saw the game.

Hanock, 22, grew up playing roller hockey at a rink in Calabasas and eventually transitioned to playing ice hockey. When Hanock left for college, his mother relocated to Pasadena, and he moved in with his mother after graduating recently.

His eyes lit up when he saw roller hockey being played not far from his new home.

“This is the only time I’ve seen people coming out to a place like this and playing puck,” Hanock said. “It’s sick that people can come play at the Rose Bowl.”

Hanock said he would definitely be back to play.

Arguijo has seen players come and go in his 10 years at the Rose Bowl. Some will play once and never come back, others become regulars and play year after year.

Those lasting relationships are what keep him coming every week, sometimes even twice a week – the group also plays some Saturdays but only with close friends.

“People who come week after week tend to become part of the group,” Arguijo said. “Eventually, they’ll hang out with us after the game, grab a bite or a drink, and before you know it, we know each other’s families and our kids are playing together.”

“Playing here has helped shape my life, no doubt.”