Are You Building An Ice Rink This Year?

Products,Synthetic Ice News / December 10, 2014

Building an ice rink building is an annual tradition in Canada that thousands of people take part in. Many of us have great memories of skating on backyard rinks with family and friends when we were growing up. Now it seems that this tradition is not as common as it used to be.

Backyard RinkTimes have changed and nowadays many people are just too busy for ice rink building. It’s no secret that people are working more and have less free time than they did 30 years ago. Add to that the increase in failed marriages and single parent homes and it’s even harder to find the time and energy required to build and maintain an outdoor ice rink.

I don’t have any actual research at my fingertips to support this but isn’t it true that weather today is less predictable than it was 30 years ago It’s harder than ever to have the right conditions to keep an outdoor ice rink than in the past. Of course that also depends on where you live, but I know 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 soars and it’s melted.

Ice Rink Building- Key to Skills Development

Ice rink buildingThere is no question that today there are more organized sports than ever before. There are more leagues to play in and a higher percentage of parents driving their kids to practice and games than ever before. As a result there is less time for parents to be at home building an ice hockey rink. A while ago there was a crisis in Canadian hockey and the thinking was that we weren’t winning gold medals because kids are playing too much organized hockey and not enough playing around for fun 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.

We’ve all heard about NHL players that grew up playing on a pond or in their backyard until after dark, with mom having to drag him in. If your kids love to play then having their own rink gives them access as much as they want. 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.
The Solution – Synthetic Ice Rinks

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 today’s kids to stay active. That’s why I’m excited that we can provide an affordable solution, a synthetic ice rink that you can put in your backyard or your basement.

Wayman Harten is the Owner & President of Synthetic Ice Solutions, Wayman has about 30 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 855-2-ICE SKATE (855 242-3752) or email us at sales@syntheticicesolutions.com.