Rink

May/June 2020

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Opening ADDRESS Welcome from Jeff Theiler 18 / MAY.JUNE.2020 USICERINKS.COM Returning to the Rinks When the March/April issue of RINK was just hitting mailboxes, the COVID-19 pandemic was starting to turn our readers' lives upside down. Professional sports leagues began to pause their seasons and a wave of ice sport event and competition cancellations soon followed. At this point every person and company involved in the ice rink industry started to wonder how long it would be until people stopped showing up to their local rink. Forty-three states instituted strict stay-at-home orders with the intent of slowing down the pandemic as COVID-19 infections and deaths continued to rise. These orders forced businesses deemed non- essential to close their doors to the public and effectively put millions of people out of work seemingly overnight. Our industry came to a grinding halt as over 90% of the indoor ice rinks in our country are located in those 43 states, and unlike other businesses, ice rinks can't provide ice time using home delivery service or curbside pickup. Now after two months of uncertainty about our future it appears that there may be a light at the end of the tunnel. States are starting to end stay-at-home orders and slowly allowing businesses to reopen. We have received numerous inquiries from our members requesting guidance for reopening their rinks. In addition to making available several links to online resources and holding weekly Zoom informational sessions for the entire industry, we also partnered with U.S. Figure Skating and USA Hockey to create a document titled 'Returning to the Rinks' which is a compilation of recommendations to help rink operators create their own reopening plan. In this issue of RINK, we have included the U.S. Ice Rink Association's section of the 'Returning to the Rinks' document starting on page 38. On pages 26-28 we have part one of a three-part series on best practices for running a successful Learn To Skate USA program out of your rink. We have also included our 2020 Regional Training Program brochure in this issue with the preliminary schedule of in-person courses that will be offered later this year. You can always check our website for available online courses if travel is no longer an option. I hope you enjoy this issue of RINK, and that by the time you're reading this, our lives are getting that much closer to being right side up again. Wishing you safety and health. — Jeff Theiler, Chief Operating Officer, United States Ice Rink Association THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE UNITED STATES ICE RINK ASSOCIATION MAY/JUNE 2020 // VOL. 23, NO. 3 USICERINKS.COM // INFO@USICERINKS.COM C E O Steve Farbman P R E S I D E N T James McEwen S E N I O R V I C E P R E S I D E N T David Jensen C O N T R O L L E R Mike Schwarz C R E AT I V E D I R E C T O R Rob Johnson A RT D I R E C T O R Mike DeArmond S E N I O R D E S I G N E R Brandon Favre D E S I G N E R S Kelsey Cherwinka, Melanie Schumacher A D S A L E S Bryan Nelson M A R K E T I N G & AC C O U N T M A NAG E R Jessica Disch E D I T O R S : Aaron Paitich, Jessi Pierce M A R K E T I N G C O O R D I NAT O R Elizabeth Boger RINK Magazine is the definitive business publication for professionals in the ice rink industry and is the leading source for information on facility management, operations and programming. PUBLISHING PARTNER 505 North Highway 169, Suite 100, Minneapolis, MN 55441 P H : (763) 595-0808 FA X : (763) 595-0016 E - M A I L : info@touchpointmedia.com W E B S I T E : touchpointmedia.com Mission: "To advance the ice rink industry through membership, world-class education, training, resources and events." C H I E F O P E R AT I N G O F F I C E R Jeff Theiler D I R E C T O R , E D U CAT I O N John Monteleone O F F I C E A S S I S T A N T Tom Wacker P H : ( 719) 538-1149 FA X : (719) 538-7838 E - M A I L : info@usicerinks.com W E B S I T E : usicerinks.com A P R O G R A M O F E D I T O R Aaron Paitich M A NAG I N G E D I T O R Jessi Pierce C O N T R I B U T I N G W R I T E R S Taylor Dean, John Monteleone, Jeff Theiler, Ryan Williamson E D I T O R I A L B OA R D T.C. Lewis, Craig Petersen D E S I G N E R S Mike DeArmond, Brandon Favre, Kelsey Cherwinka, Melanie Schumacher 'Returning to the Rinks' is a compilation of recommendations to help rink operators create their own reopening plan.

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