Hockey is booming in the Midwest, where cold weather is naturally beneficial to the sport. The community invests in state-of-the-art facilities and hospitality to attract hockey games. The outstanding ice rink and citywide hospitality make the city competitive while competing for the championship.
First-class facilities
The popularity of professional hockey in the United States and the increase in accessibility of games continue to promote the development of youth hockey. During the 2023-24 school year, there were more than 42,000 high school hockey players in the United States, an increase of 405 participants from the previous year
American hockey.
The savvy community that hosts hockey games is building or expanding its facilities to accommodate all players, families, fans and coaches.
“Having (multiple) ICE is the goal to attract people so you can show more teams,” said Domico Rodriguez, executive director of Rapid City Sports Commission at SD.
Rodriguez said that building partnerships with city leaders and other sports organizations to ensure adequate ice time for hockey and other ICE sports is an important factor in successfully hosting hockey games.
Blaine, Minnesota, outside Minneapolis, is home to the super skating rink, the world’s largest amateur sports facility that serves eight communities. Throughout the year, Super Rink hosts more than 100 events and competitions for teenagers and adults, figure skating, broomball, short team speed skating and sled hockey.
Super Rink is the eight-piece ice rink on the National Sports Center campus. This is a merged program composed of 11 local government partners, the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission and various youth hockey associations.
The super rink is home to the American Women’s Olympic Hockey team, and the popularity of women’s hockey has intensified the demand for borneol.
According to U.S. Hockey, participation in women’s hockey has increased by 65% over the past 15 seasons. The gold medals won by the Women’s Olympic Team in 2018 and 1998 sparked interest in the sport, while the IX champion improved accessibility
hockey. Title IX gives female athletes the right to equal opportunities in sports
In educational institutions that receive federal funding.
“We had four ice rinks in 1998, and then we added four ice rinks, all because of Title IX,” said Pete Carlson, senior director of operations and programming at Super Rink. “These girls didn’t get the same ice opportunities as boys… (but now) we have huge girls competitions here. That’s a big part of our survival.”
More ice means more opportunities to host boys and girls teams across the country. Youth Hockey League from multiple states held its season-ending game at Super Rink, which brought teams, families, scouts, sponsors and suppliers to a location.
“If an association has eight teams that all want to practice at the same time, they can do that here. It’s unique to us,” Carlson said.
Carlson added that Tier III brought the entire league and took over three to four days of super skating rink in the playoffs.
“Everyone can watch at least a little bit (game), instead of thousands of miles apart from each other in their activities,” he said. “We can do that with eight teams or 80 teams.”
Fargo, New York City, opened a new sports facility, namely the Fargo Park Sports Center in January 2024. Fargo has 19 ice sheets in each other’s 10 to 12 minutes to accommodate multiple hockey games that occur most weekends.
Fargo is across from Moorhead, Minnesota, and 160 miles from the Canadian border. The Fargo-Moorhead area has three hockey associations and hosts more than 20 tournaments, targeting the Youth Hockey Association only.
“Our biggest event is youth hockey,” Sporet Broughton is director of Sports’ visit to Fargo-Moorhead. “The percentage of travel teams is high. We get teams from all over the United States…We are also close to Canada, so it’s attractive. They can drive to play.”
In addition to adding ice caps, sports facilities offer work spaces, meeting spaces and experiences that attract teams and their families.
“You’ve been to the ice rink, which used to be a metal building with bleach and a locker room, and you put the kids down,” Carlson said.
“Now it seems like hockey is a little secondary in how the rink is built. Now, that’s everything beyond that. Do you have Wi-Fi? Do you have a place for warmth and TV? Do you have a concession stand, what does it sell?” he explained. “The super rink does a great job of having these facilities inside the rink.”
The super skating rink started about half of the school year on Friday, providing space for parents who need to work on the spot.
“Employers understand that their employees can work from home (or anywhere). The Super Rink has places where you can sit in a quiet corner, watch games, and have a computer, phone and Wi-Fi,” Carlson said. “Provide convenience for parents, people watching now have to do it.”
Broughton said technology needs to be in sync with the needs of parents and fans, for example, they shoot game videos, stream, or send videos and photos to their grandparents.
“When you have so many corpses
Facilities, if they stream the game, your technology may swallow. ”
She explained.
The Fargo Parks Sports Center offers rentable spaces so teams using the facility can gather between games, eat or watch movies. Each room includes a large-screen TV and Bluetooth. Officials can be treated in private, unmarked lounges during downtime.
“It’s so cool. They stay away from everything,” Broughton said. “It’s really quiet. They have a wet bar that provides them with water and snacks, and a seating area with comfortable chairs, TV and workstation. Have a chance.
Decompress. ”
Offers in places like Super Rink and Fargo have surpassed hot dogs, popcorn and candy. For example, the Fargo Park Sports Center has a full commercial kitchen that serves natural flavors like Macaroni and cheese, and can offer vegetarian or other special dietary options.
The atmosphere on the ice is becoming more and more complicated. Carlson said Super Rink plans to renovate some ice rinks to provide players with an atmosphere that mimics professional hockey.
“We have a nice sound system. We want to put down the lights, put some spotlights, and give out the red lights and sirens when (every) team is on (every) team. Those facilities you can put into the rink make it special. You need music, you need an announcer, and now we need to put down the lights like the National Hockey League … to make these kids feel like they are the most important person for an hour and 15 minutes,” Carlton said.
Community Partnership
All cutting-edge facilities must be paired with hospitality and consistent customer service, so the team wants to return.
“If we weren’t saying ‘Hello, goodbye’,’ how are you?” They need that kind of customer service. Super Rink did a great job of cleaning, hospitality and our concession stands. Those little things cost little, but if they weren’t here, people wouldn’t come back. ”
Partnerships between local businesses and attractions help the hockey teams to have a positive experience when they play. Rodriguez said affordable motels and hotels are crucial, especially when winter is usually the tourist season.
Visit Fargo-Moorhead to promote sports and events through its social media and send alerts to operations in the region that will bring in large numbers of visitors. This provides time for restaurants, gas stations, hotels and attractions to ensure they are staffed and ready for a larger crowd.
“We have implemented some other exchanges with facilities, restaurants, shopping malls and attractions in almost all events that are expected to have more than 2,000 participants and audiences,” Broughton said.
The thriving home team also contributed to the city’s appeal as a community of tournament hosts. Rapid City is home to The Rush, a professional hockey team. Rodriguez said Rush’s fan followers helped develop local youth hockey for kids from the age of five to college. The area’s Level III team offers high school and college hockey players the opportunity to be attracted to more outstanding colleges.
“The biggest component of recruiting external events is that you need to have a strong local (hockey) organization because most tournament directors need a lot of team bags that can fill these attractions early,” he explained. “The good competition in these events will attract people from farther apart.”
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