The ice shortage in Calgary eased up this week thanks to the opening of the new Great Plains Recreation Facility in the southeast, however concerns are already being raised about who’s getting the best ice-time slots.
The facility features two multi-purpose rinks for ice sports such as hockey, sledge hockey, ringette and figure skating.
Hockey Calgary received their schedule and almost 50 per cent of their allocated time at the new rinks are on Sundays.
“We’re happy that there’s a new facility, we’re happy there’s more access to ice, we’re happy with what we got but we’re disappointed with the timing and the cost. We gained all the ice on Sundays and received very little on Tuesday, Wednesday evenings from 6 o’cock until 11 p.m,” Kevin Kobelka, executive director for Hockey Calgary, said.
For the first time, the City of Calgary partnered with a for-profit organization, Canlan Ice Sports, to operate the city run facility. In the agreement, minor sports would get 60 per cent of ice time and the facility’s own men’s league and tournaments would get the remaining 40 per cent.
Some feel minor sports received the right amount of time but not the desired time.
Kobelka says the ‘super prime ice times’ went to the facility’s men’s league mostly, instead of minor sports, which makes it difficult on families.
“Those families are upset and they feel that their tax payer dollars aren’t being utilized properly,” Kobelka said. “They took the super prime ice time and their didn’t put their programs on any of the other ice time.”
Hockey dad and beer league player Jamie Martin says the solution is to put kids first.
“We want to keep all of our youth in sports and having ice times at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, halfway across the city is not going to do it. The men, and I’m one of them, can play later at night and suck it up,” Martin said.
Canlan Ice sports didn’t comment on or confirm the current ice rink schedule but did say it’s going to take some time before all three sides can build a working relationship.
“The sport has to flourish and it starts at the grassroots, but there has to be utilization by all user groups. For a facility to be self-sustaining and to be able to support the operating expenses and life cycle costs of operating these buildings – there has to be revenue generated as well,” Joey St-Aubin, President of Canlan Ice Sports, said.
The cost to rent ice at the Great Plains Recreation Facility compared to other city funded and operated rinks is up roughly 35 per cent.
“The average city arena is around $190, they’re charging us around $245-246, plus we’re paying an extra 10 minute maintenance charge. So it works out to be around $300 for a usable hour of ice,” Kobelka said.
With two more recreation facilities in the Seton and Rocky Ridge neighbourhoods set to open within the next two years, Kobelka wants to make sure Calgary minor sports doesn’t continue down this path.
“A couple of years back we lost key corporate ice or key prime time ice at Winsport Arena as well. It seems key times for minor sports are not being provided after school and in the early evenings to minor sports.
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