Check here for news articles related to skating in Victoria and Australia.
Getting the skates on - Herald Sun, 31 October 2008
US offers support to save our ice sports - Herald Sun, 28 March 2008
Rescue needed for rink - Bendigo Weekly, 18 January 2008
Ice Skating Dances Back Into Spotlight - The Age, 2 August 2006
Speed Powers Teen - Knox Leader, 10 May 2006
$60m Ice Skating Bonanza - Herald Sun, 22 February 2006
Skating on Solid Ground for Winter Olympic Gold - Valley Weekly, 18 January 2006
Hard Yards Pay Off - Knox Leader, 17 January 2006
Bendigo Weekly, 18 January 2008
The Age, 2 August 2006
Ice Skating Dances Back Into Spotlight
Channel Nine's Dancing On Ice, the brainchild of Britain's ITV, is boosting business at the Olympic Ice Skating Rink at Oakleigh.
Sydney has six rinks but Melbourne is down to one following the closure over several years of rinks at St Kilda, Dandenong, Moorabbin, Footscray, Ringwood and a couple near Bayswater.
Management at Olympic would be happy to see more rinks around Melbourne, if they were well managed.
"The Torvill and Dean TV show is really spotlighting the sport," says Olympic manager Vince Moletta . "We can't afford a big marketing campaign so shows like this, Swan Lake on Ice and Disney on Ice help spread the message.
"In a city of 4 million people, it's surprising we are down to one viable rink."
It is unlikely there will be a spate of new rinks, though. Establishment costs would include at least a half hectare of land, a large clear-span building, car park, service facilities and ice-making equipment costing about $500,000.
Yet Olympic manages 85 per cent capacity during the winter season, when ice hockey enthusiasts dominate. From 6am to almost midnight at weekends the rink is nearly full.
Summer is quieter and the marketing focus switches to the general public - particularly children and teenagers.
Birthday parties are popular and have inspired many youngsters, most of them girls, to take up ice skating.
"If we took ice hockey out of the equation we'd be struggling - training and competition takes up our spare capacity," Mr Moletta says.
He adds that when the Ringwood rink closed down it hurt the hockey fraternity and in turn affected business. "Half the hockey teams in town were at Ringwood, the other half here. For a year or so there was resistance from the Ringwood players about coming to Oakleigh, but fortunately the competition is now strong again."
The company estimates that only 10 per cent of Melburnians are aware there is an ice rink in their city and fewer still know where it is, although Dancing on Ice is changing that. "People have found out that some celebrities train here and they come to watch. When they see someone like Dermott Brereton skating for the first time, they're encouraged to have a go.
"It can be confronting for newcomers but there are always plenty of experienced skaters on hand to help them.
"Word of mouth is the best marketing strategy and our aim is to give our patrons a good experience so they'll spread the word for us. With the help of Dermie and his mates, of course," Mr Moletta says.
ICE skating is to become Melbourne's hottest pastime
under a $60 million plan to build an ice sports centre at Docklands.
The centre will feature twin, full-size ice rinks. the Herald Sun has learned.
It will also be home to Australia's Olympic Winter Institute and the centre of
our future Winter Olympic campaigns.
It will host national and international ice hockey, ice skating, curling and speed skating events, with seating for hundreds of spectators.
It will be open to the public for recreational skating.
The Bracks Government last week approved the plans of a private consortium led by ING Real Estate Development Australia, Ice Sports Australia and the Australian Olympic Committee's Olympic Winter Institute.
The consortium is yet to secure finance to build the centre, but has used private funding to pay designers here and in Canada to draw up detailed plans.
The State Government promised a world-class ice sports centre after the golden success of Alisa Camplin and Steven Bradbury at the Winter Olympics four years ago.
Premier Steve Bracks' $10 million commitment to develop a National Ice Sports Centre before the 2002 state election had raised expectations the complex would be finished at least a year ahead of the current Winter Olympics in Turin.
But the plans were put on hold for almost two years after the election, with rink operators, developers, financiers, designers and builders not briefed on Government proposals until March 2004.
"We have now been through the selection process and have agreed on a site and developer, so it's now up to the private sector to make this work," Sports Minister Justin Madden said yesterday.
"The centre will fill the gap in ice sports facilities in Melbourne and establish Victoria as the national leader in winter sports.
"We are very excited about this project and we're looking forward to confirmation from the developer of private sector backing, with the development of the centre contingent upon the preferred developer securing investment finance."
Mr Madden said he had asked his department to monitor the developer's progress.
The rinks will be built on top of a 1300-space multi-level car park as part of the next stage of Waterfront City, which is being developed at Docklands by ING REDA as a retail and entertainment precinct.
As Australia's only world-class ice sports venue, the centre will be home to the Olympic Winter Institute.
Ice Sports Australia director Andrew Shelton said the centre would offer something Victoria had never had and could not be compared with the "ice rink in a tin shed" of the past.
He expected construction to begin this year, once a financier was found.
Detailed plans are now being drawn up by Cox Architects and Arup Engineers -- who both worked on the MCG redevelopment -- and Stadium Consultants International, a Toronto-based firm specialising in ice sports arenas.
Valley Weekly, 18 January 2006
Knox Leader, January 17 2006
