Access to ice time a shifting challenge

Posted Feb 16, 2012 By Laura Mueller

EMC sports - t's a strange conundrum.

Across the city, minor hockey teams are scrambling to find ice time, at the same time as arenas lay darkened for hours at a time.

It's partly because ice sports have just become so popular, but it's also a consequence of an antiquated system the city used to sell blocks of rink time - particularly at the last minute.

While teams jockey for prime - or any - ice time, city-owned rinks are dark for 5,835 of the best hours each year.

But that is set to change this year. The city recently overhauled the process of booking rink time, putting it online for the first time.

The previous method was outdated and cumbersome, according to deputy city manager Steve Kanellakos.

Residents had to call during limited business hours to ask about arena availability, but there was often a lengthy turnaround time before the resident could hear back about their request. Forms had to be faxed, signed and returned and the payment had to be made before they could access the ice.

If someone wants to book last-minute ice time, they have to call each arena to check the availability, then wait a couple of days before getting an answer.

Now, they can just do the whole thing online, at any time of the day or night.

"This just removes that one barrier that was always there from the city side of it," said Beacon Hill-Cyrville Coun. Tim Tierney.

Tierney oversaw the project as chairman of the city's information technology subcommittee, but he has a personal stake in it.

"I'm being a little selfish because I've gone through this for seven years," said Tierney, who coaches his son Liam's team.

"It takes a huge part of the legwork out," Tierney said. "You don't have to wait 24 to 48 hours to find out if that ice is available. You don't have to contact the other coach and see if it's good for them. You don't have to jump through all these hoops."

Getting the word out

That's already making a big difference... for coaches who know about the service.

"We haven't marketed it heavily right now because it's a new product," Tierney said. "It's something that's very new to people ... I can only see it getting better after we market it some more."

In the first month of the online booking service (Dec. 20, 2011 to Jan. 20, 2012), 177 last-minute ice bookings were done through ottawa.ca, despite the "slow" holiday period, Tierney said. That's $29,000 in extra revenue in that first month alone.

"That's for a very quiet period, and people are still getting used to this being there," Tierney said.

A year ago, city councillors were told that making the process easier and more accessible could generate another $153,000 for the city each year.

"People are desperate to get ice," Tierney said.

Making it easier to book ice time won't alleviate all the strains of finding an available rink.

There are simply too many groups vying for time at the precious few rinks the city owns.

In Tierney's view, those 34 indoor ice services aren't equitably distributed across the city, with a deficiency in the east end.

Geographic considerations aren't the only barrier, says Jim Perkins, co-founder of the Capital City Condors, a hockey team for youth with special needs.

When he started up the team in 2008, he rented ice in Beckwith Township, west of the city, to keep costs down.

More recently, the Condors had been renting a chunk of time at Jack Charron Arena in Glen Cairn from the Kanata Minor Hockey Association, but after registrations were sent out, the team was told that arrangement was no longer allowed.

Staff from Kanata South Coun. Allan Hubley's office and Mayor Jim Watson's office stepped in and saved the season, but that close call left Perkins searching for another answer.

To get in touch with the Condors, visit www.capitalcitycondors.org.