The Quest for the Elusive Ice Rink
The growing pains of the minority sport includes limited access to rinks across the country.
AVONDALE, NZ — Besides the accents, an easy way to tell apart a Kiwi from a North American is asking them about hockey.
The Kiwi will think of the sport played with a stick and a ball, and the North American will think of the sport on ice with skates and a stick. Both are right, but it depends where you are.
“It’s still weird to say ice hockey, it’s just hockey. That’s another thing that I had to adjust over the years because I’d say hockey and they’d be like, Oh yeah, I watched that. But no, that’s field hockey,” Canadian-born Justin Daigle said. “You have to make the distinction here that it’s ice hockey, which is foreign to me.”
Foreign is one way to describe the differences between New Zealand’s and North America’s ice hockey scenes.
Think about ice skating, for example. In North America, most players begin their first steps from ages 3 to 6.
“You’re building that foundational skill and then creating that muscle memory from a really young age, almost the same time as you’re learning how to walk and run and all your agility is starting to form itself,” Daigle said.
It’s a different story in New Zealand.
“Most people over there [in the States] grow up playing ice hockey and skating, while over here quite a lot of people start when they’re later, like ten or eleven,” Alex Regan, a Kiwi-born defenceman said.
The entire country of nearly five million people holds six ice rinks, leaving many to grow up without a local rink. Kiwi-born players likely played inline hockey years before they moved to the ice.
The entire country holds six ice rinks, leaving many in the population of nearly five million to grow up without a local rink.
One “missing link” to end the fight for ice time is the need for a rink in Wellington.
“We need to build more rinks, first of all. It’s crazy that there’s no rink in Wellington,” team manager Tim Ratcliffe said.
Auckland is the biggest city in the country with 1.7 million people, but Wellington, the country’s capital, is larger than the other cities in the New Zealand Ice Hockey League. Adding another North Island location to balance the league to six teams would make sense, but there aren’t any concrete plans for an ice rink.
Winter is an especially tough time for solo sessions at Paradice Ice Skating in Avondale, one of two rinks in the North Island of New Zealand.
The West Auckland rink only has one sheet of ice that is used for public skates during the high season. A coveted hour of ice costs $300 and is not recommended for individuals.
“You can’t get as much time on the ice as you want to,” Regan said. “Actually, I asked the rink if there’s any more ice time and they said no.”
“I still cringe when I hear it sometimes. ‘Ice hockey’. I sound like such a rookie.” -Justin Daigle
Even with limited access to rinks, success stories exist in the country’s ice hockey landscape. The captain of the national team (Ice Blacks) Nick Craig grew up in a small town in the southwestern part of New Zealand’s North Island and played inline hockey. He didn’t ice skate until he moved to Auckland at 18 years old.
“It took probably three or four years to get it properly,” Craig said. “Still, these guys out there can edge their way better than I can.”
The fight against adversity amazes North American players.
“The fact that they’ve been able to reach the levels they have, some of those senior guys that started so late is incredible,” Daigle said.
New Zealand doesn’t breed hockey players like other countries do. Hockey players have to balance full-time jobs with the elusive task of finding ice time.
“Say if you get on the ice three times a week, that’s quite a lot. That’s only three hours, that’s nothing compared to guys overseas playing pro and stuff, going through their developmental programs,” Craig said.
The lack of ice time forces coaches to devise more creative solutions for practices. Players often work on skill development off the ice, like stickhandling golf balls. When they can, the younger players will squeeze in skating sessions during lunch breaks at school.
“I will say that it isn’t ideal, but the ones that are serious about it will always find a way to get on the ice,” Daigle said.
The Kiwis right now will have to do what they’ve always done: make the most of their situation.
