Game On! Well, that's the plan, anyway.

Street hockey, that venerable past time of generations of Canadians, is expected to return to Hamilton.

City councillors are poised to allow the classic pickup game to be played again on Hamilton's streets and roadways. It was banned years ago when municipal liability became a concern — the concern being if anyone ever got hurt playing it.

For Ryan Kotar, it's a wonderful day for Hamilton's children.

Kotar garnered national attention in 2002 at age 10 when he and his late father Gary fought a street hockey charge in court.

Hamilton police laid a charge against his father — Kotar was too young to be charged — who played street hockey with his son despite insistent complaints from a neighbour on Edgemount Street, where they used to live.

The bylaw had been around for 40 years but was rarely enforced.

The charge — for violating a bylaw prohibiting people from playing on the street — was dismissed by a justice of the peace.

"I think it's a great win for kids across the city," says Kotar, 26, a realtor in the city.

But there are conditions to reinstating the game on city streets. A report to council's general issues committee on Wednesday morning proposes limits on an amended bylaw that would allow it.

The amendments allow street hockey on local roads with a speed limit of 40 km/h or less during daylight hours from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. It will not be allowed during periods of limited visibility from fog, snow or rain.

The conditions are similar to those adopted by Toronto city council last year.

Ward 4 Coun. Sam Merulla, whose ward was at the centre of the dispute back in 2002, went to bat for the Kotars and has been advocating ever since for the City of Hamilton to lift its ban on street hockey.

Last year, Merulla succeeded in getting council to revisit the issue after Toronto started allowing street hockey again, albeit with restrictions.

Today after a staff report on proposed amendments, Merulla says there is universal support on council to reinstate street hockey in Hamilton.

"It's been a long haul … better late than never," he says. "It will encourage children to be far more active outdoors."

Merulla points out there is still recourse available to homeowners who feel abused by street hockey players through property or vehicle damage or other nuisances.

"You can still call the bylaw office and an officer still comes out — and even though it's permitted, we'd be able to intervene and mitigate," he says. Allowing street hockey again won't give players "a blank cheque to vandalize property. It doesn't mean you can run amok."

In 2015, the city created a "street hockey" street on a 60-metre stretch of Roxborough Avenue next to Queen Mary Elementary School that had been closed to vehicle traffic since May 2014.

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The proposed amendments to Hamilton's bylaw on street hockey for the rest of the city are being presented to council's general issues committee meeting on Wednesday.

As for Kotar — who continued through the years to play with friends in empty parking lots — the amended bylaw will see him now hitting the streets again after all these years.

"The day it gets passed," he vows. "I still love the game."