Moose Jaw makes helmets mandatory at indoor public skates for children 12 and under

The City of Moose Jaw is enhancing safety measures at their indoor skating facilities.

As of Jan. 1, children under 12 must wear CSA approved helmets during public and free skates. Previously, the city had a mandatory policy for children ages six and under, but decided to up the age this year.

“We phoned around other places in the province of Saskatchewan, as well as outside the province in Alberta and Manitoba, and we averaged the age (in cities with mandatory helmet policies), and the age came out to be 12,” City of Moose Jaw recreation program supervisor Stephen Hall said.

The policy only applies to the city’s three indoor public skates, which are supervised. Outdoor rinks are not supervised, so Hall says therefore the helmet policies don’t apply to outdoor rinks.

“The ice is as hard as concrete and having your skates taken out from under you without you knowing and having your head hit the ice can cause major damage, be it anybody,” Hall said

Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert do not have mandatory helmet policies; it is the parent or guardian’s choice whether children should wear helmets.

According to the Saskatchewan Brain Injury Association, falls are the leading cause of brain injury, and brain injury is the leading cause of disability and death among people 45 and under, most commonly occurring in children and youth.

“Children are really at a vulnerable stage. Their brains, like their bodies, are developing very, very rapidly. So you want to give your child every advantage to protect that and a helmet is one of those,” Saskatchewan Brain Injury Association executive director Glenda James said.

Helmets remain mandatory in all hockey programs, but the policy does not apply to young figure skaters in Moose Jaw.

“The nature of the sport doesn’t use helmets, so figure skating does not have to follow our policy,” Hall said.

Moose Jaw figure skater Ryann Handley has been on the ice and competing for 11 years. In that time, she has suffered two concussions.

“I had my first concussion when I was 12 and I slipped off my edge and I hit the back of my head. That was one they called a minor concussion but my symptoms were really bad. I was throwing up, I had blurry vision and I couldn’t go to school for a few days,” Handley said.

“The second one wasn’t as noticeable. I hit the front of my head and it was my cognitive that was affected. I was really tired all the time and I wasn’t thinking right, so that one took a long time to recover from.”

It also took her awhile to gain her confidence back on the ice.

“The element that I hurt myself on, it took me a really long time to do it again. I was really scared and I didn’t want to hurt myself again because it was really painful,” she said.

Handley says she thinks mandatory helmets for young figure skaters is a good idea, but notes that style usually trumps safety in the sport.

“It’s kind of like a dance sport. You’re supposed to perform and look good. So a helmet wouldn’t look as good I guess, I think that’s the main reason why we don’t wear helmets.”