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Ice Rink Building - A Dying Tradition
Ice rink building is an annual tradition in many parts of Canada taken on by thousands of people. I know that when I was growing up I have great memories of skating on backyard rinks with my friends. It seems to me that taking on the project of ice rink building is becoming less common as the years go by and I think there are a few key reasons why.Times have changed, generally speaking people are too busy for ice rink building now. It’s no secret that people are working more and have less free time. More complicated family dynamics also play a part as the traditional family unit isn’t as common as it was 30 years ago. Typically the mother gets primary custody in divorce settlements, but dads are the ones usually in charge of ice rink building. Is it worth the time and effort if you only have the kids every second weekend?
Now I admit that I haven’t done the research to back this up but would anyone argue that weather today is less predictable than it was 30 years ago? With global warming and other environmental issues it seems to me that it is harder than ever to have the right conditions to keep an outdoor ice rink than in the past. Of course this depends on where you are located, but I know that in southern Ontario that’s my perception. Ice rink building is a commitment of quite a bit of time and the last thing you want is to invest that time and then a week later the temperature goes way above freezing and it’s melted.
Ice Rink Building- Key to Skills Development
In my view there are more organized sports today than in the past, more leagues, more of parents driving their kids to practice and games in all sorts of sports than before. This leaves less time for parents to be home to build an ice hockey rink because they’re out every night driving the kids to all of their organized events. A few years ago there was a crisis in Canadian hockey because we weren’t winning gold medals at an acceptable rate and one of the concerns was that kids aren’t just playing around enough at early ages. In a typical league game the average kid may handle the puck for a total of 1 minute the whole game. If you put a handful of kids on a backyard rink they can stick handle and shoot for hours. Many are saying that in general European players have more imagination because they spend less time playing organized hockey at the youngest ages and more time building their skills and having fun.How many times have you heard an NHL player talk about growing up and playing on a pond or in a backyard until his mother had to call him in from the dark for supper? If your kids love to play then a backyard rink gives them access all the time. Now of course we all know that only a very small percentage of kids will ever become professional players. A big benefit of ice rink building is that it gives your children something better than video games to play. In this day and age when child obesity is becoming more and more common providing them with a fun way to actually get some exercise is the best gift you could give your children.
It seems to me that ice rink building is a bit of a dying tradition and to me it’s not only a bit sad, but I think it’s making it harder for Canadian hockey to stay on top and for todays kids to stay active.
Wayman Harten is the Owner & President of Synthetic Ice Solutions, Wayman has 28 years of technical experience in the plastics Industry and is passionate about providing the best artificial ice rinks at very affordable prices. Click on one of the links and read more about synthetic ice or see videos about the product. You can also call us at (877)373-2996 or email us at wayman@syntheticicesolutions.com.
