The reopening of the Fernie Memorial Arena has boosted interest in local sporting clubs.
Fernie Minor Hockey and Fernie Skating Club were forced to travel for training and games last season after a deadly gas leak closed the arena in October.
They were among dozens of groups to exhibit at the Fernie Community Services Fall Registration Fair on September 5 and were buoyed by the prospect of returning to their home rink this week.
“Our younger years will vary but from our older age groups, we had 90 per cent return and we’ve had lots of interest tonight, so it’s been really positive,” said Fernie Minor Hockey secretary Kristen Miller.
“We’re excited, it will be good to get back into our old arena and have a good, positive year.”
Minor hockey is open to children aged four to 17 and requires a commitment of two practices a week plus games.
“It’s a great skill to have, learn how to skate and learn how to work as a team,” said Miller.
Fernie Skating Club coach Kathy Sutherland was also excited to get back on the ice.
The club wasn’t able to offer its learn to skate program, CanSkate, last season and membership suffered as a result.
Sutherland admitted the closure was also hard on the club’s junior and senior skaters, who had to travel to Sparwood, Elkford and Crowsnest Pass for practices and their annual ice show.
“They were still enthusiastic and we still did a nice show. It was great even though we didn’t have a whole bunch of people who showed up for it,” she said.
“But everybody was really excited knowing that they can get back into the rink and use their own ice again.
“It wasn’t that far to travel but it was just every day we were travelling and in the mornings we had to get up extra early because we had to drive before we skated at 6 a.m., so it’s going to be much nicer, everybody is pretty excited about getting back.”
The skating club has revamped its CanSkate program in the hope of attracting new skaters.
“We’re changing it up a little bit this year, so that they’re doing 45 minutes on ice and 15 minutes off ice, which we’ve never done,” said Sutherland.
“We do a lot of off ice with our older skaters and we want to make sure that our younger skaters understand the importance of off ice, so we’re adding an off ice session.
“For that level, there’s going to be a little bit of stretching, a little bit of games off ice, but basically they’ll have their skates on and they’re learning how to balance and do things off ice that are harder maybe on ice because it’s slippery.”
The club will also offer power skating all season for the first time.
“We’re putting more skaters on the ice and splitting up our ice and using it together, so some of our skating sessions will have hockey players on the ice at the same time and we’re just going to use our ice efficiently,” said Sutherland.
In November, the hockey and skating seasons will be interrupted by roof repairs at the arena, which are expected to take three to four weeks.
Both clubs are still finalizing their plans for the temporary closure, however, skating programs will be put on hold.
For more information or to register, visit Fernieminorhockey.net or Fernieskatingclub.com.
