Re-opening rinks with social distancing

[sk8girl]

Here is the Skate Canada "return to play" protocol:

https://www.skatinginbc.com/sites/d...urntoplayforfigureskatingguidelines060120.pdf

Interesting that the only groups that are approved to return are StarSkate (test-stream skaters), competitive skaters, and adults (yay!) No learn-to-skate or developmental programs. With only 10 people allowed on the ice at any time, I'm not sure how financially feasible this is going to be for some clubs.

You’re ahead of us in Ontario. Only novice/junior/senior skaters are allowed on the ice here, with a maximum of 5 people on the ice, including coaches... Plus, most municipal rinks are still closed until at least June 30, so the eligible competitive skaters are scavenging for private ice to rent in the meantime. (And that is perfectly legal here, since the province has authorized those skaters to skate, as long as they follow the Skate Ontario return to play regulations at whatever rink they find to rent.)

No word on when adult and starskate skaters will be allowed back on, but at this point I’m not expecting to see much ice, if any, before maybe September.

 

[Debbie S]

I'm told that some rinks in DE (Patriot and Wilmington) have opened, although Wilmington is private ice for its club members. AFAIK, UD rink is still closed. I've heard that some synchro teams in my area are practicing, but I don't know which teams or rinks. (I guess they're confident we're going to have a synchro season.)

 

[concorde]

My daughter just saw something indicating that the Philly summer competition has been cancelled. I am still surprised that it was not cancelled earlier. The venue is in Delaware County PA which just went to "yellow" status yesterday. In yellow status, no gyms can re-open - rinks are considered gyms. We were told awhile back to expect "yellow" status to remain for 10 weeks. The governor has since revised the metrics so all bets are off that area will move to "green."

We live in Montgomery County, PA which is adjacent to Delaware County, PA. Things in our area (Lower Merion Township where the PSC&HS rink is located) are not good. Up until Friday, the stay-at-home order was in place due to the pandemic. Added to that, there was a curfew due to the riots in Philly (our township is adjacent to Philly). Then a derecho can through Wednesday afternoon knocking out power to 100,000s. Our street of about 10 homes had multiple trees and power lines down which made the road non-drivable until Friday. As of now (Sunday at noon), no one on our street has power. But the trucks have finally arrived - they are there clearing a path through the woods so the replacement poles can be placed and then the new power lines hung. Just wanted all to know what some areas are facing beyond the pandemic. fyi. My husband and dog are still at the PA house, the kids and I left just 8 days ago for my parents beach house in Florida (the kids will be her for 10 weeks but my husband and I are swapping). In Florida, we are getting the rains from Cristobal.

It is strange going from a "hotspot" to a place where they is less than 10% of those cases. In PA, we were required to wear masks in public. Here they are optional and most do not head that advice (expect for us). Indoor seating is now open at 25% capacity and no way am I gonna try that.

My daughter has been skating at a Florida rink since Tuesday. The rink has capped freestyle sessions at 20 but I think we have only seen about 10 max. What changes have I seen? the doors are marked "in" and "out," coaches are wearing masks, I think I have seen only 1 young skater wearing a mask; very strict in signing in each person going into the building; lots of hand sanitizer; no one seems to be handing our before or after skating. I think what we are seeing at "our" Florida rink is probably very different from what we would be seeing in we stayed up North.

Delaware rinks seem to all be open except for UD. Wilmington is at limited capacity and is limiting ice to members only. Lots of skaters on the East Coast go up and down the corridor for training and coaching crossings lots of State borders. This has been going on for quite awhile so it is nothing triggered by the pandemic.

 

[sk8pics]

I'm told that some rinks in DE (Patriot and Wilmington) have opened, although Wilmington is private ice for its club members. AFAIK, UD rink is still closed. I've heard that some synchro teams in my area are practicing, but I don't know which teams or rinks. (I guess they're confident we're going to have a synchro season.)

Patriot also shut down after UD did. And their website still says it's closed. As does the Skating Club of Wilmington.

The governor's directive last week (I think, but I forget which day) prohibited rinks from opening without an approved plan for managing the number of people. I think that was referring specifically do Phase 2 of reopening.

 

[concorde]

I was told that Patriot (in Delaware) opened on Wednesday with very limited ice. Sessions are $25/hour.

Any idea if there will be a ice skating competition "season"? EMS used to list a limited number of competitions but as of this evening, only 1 remains (Anaheim, CA). A week ago, a handful were listed.

 

[Debbie S]

Any idea if there will be a ice skating competition "season"? EMS used to list a limited number of competitions but as of this evening, only 1 remains (Anaheim, CA). A week ago, a handful were listed.

Your guess is as good as the rest of ours, but my guess is no. Skate Wilmington has been rescheduled for Labor Day weekend and there is usually Challenge Cup in Sept...we'll see if either of these happen. Not only does it need to be safe to have the comp, skaters need to be ready to enter a comp. They probably need at least 2 months of solid training.

I linked USFS's comp guidelines upthread and as I said, given the restrictions, I think it would be near-impossible to run a comp like that. Plus, judges and officials tend to skew older....I suspect most will be hesitant to spend 3-4 12-hour days in an ice rink within several feet of other people.

I think we'll be lucky to have Regionals and Sectionals.

 

[Theoreticalgirl]

Your guess is as good as the rest of ours, but my guess is no. Skate Wilmington has been rescheduled for Labor Day weekend and there is usually Challenge Cup in Sept...we'll see if either of these happen. Not only does it need to be safe to have the comp, skaters need to be ready to enter a comp. They probably need at least 2 months of solid training.

With the way things are moving right now locally, I can't imagine Challenge Cup happening. Sure, DE has opened rinks, but all of the usual training spots in PA—PSCHS, Skatium, Wiss, IW, Hatfield—remain closed for the foreseeable future.

It's worth remembering that even in non-YKW years, PSCHS closes in August and is only open for ~3 weeks before the start of the event.

 

[concorde]

A PSCHS board member told me that they are not closing this August. All the repairs that are normally done in August (+some) have already been made.

Whether or not Challenge Cup is held is a seperate matter.

 

[sk8pics]

I was told that Patriot (in Delaware) opened on Wednesday with very limited ice. Sessions are $25/hour.

Perhaps they haven’t updated their website, or perhaps they’re only open for a limited group of skaters.

 

[concorde]

Perhaps they haven’t updated their website, or perhaps they’re only open for a limited group of skaters.

My friend does have coaches there.

 

[sk8pics]

My friend does have coaches there.

So, what does that mean? That some of the regular coaches are allowed to coach their skaters there? I do hope they are following the state guidelines, and that everyone stays healthy.

 

[concorde]

So, what does that mean? That some of the regular coaches are allowed to coach their skaters there? I do hope they are following the state guidelines, and that everyone stays healthy.

My guess is she is having a lesson with her coach and therefore she is allowed to skate but only during a lesson. She told me that was the case right before the facility shut down.
I had heard something similar from skaters that regularly skate at SC of Wilmington.
My daughter does not have coaches at either of those places so I have not asked for specifics.

 

[overedge]

Something I was wondering about the Skate Canada reopening guidelines is how clubs are supposed to define "competitive" skaters, for the purposes of determining who is allowed to skate. Especially when there are no competitions in the near future.

ETA: The city that runs my rink has announced that in mid-June it will start reopening some outdoor facilities and be moving some of its indoor fitness classes outdoors. But from the reopening plan it looks like ice rinks and other indoor facilities won't be open until the next phase, and even then they're not guaranteeing which facilities will be opened.

 

[sk8pics]

My guess is she is having a lesson with her coach and therefore she is allowed to skate but only during a lesson. She told me that was the case right before the facility shut down.
I had heard something similar from skaters that regularly skate at SC of Wilmington.
My daughter does not have coaches at either of those places so I have not asked for specifics.

Interesting, because the Phase 2 order specifically says rinks are not allowed to open unless they submit and have approved a plan to operate safely. I just looked it up.

 

[Theoreticalgirl]

While they haven't updated their site, it's clear ice time has been made available at Patriot in some capacity, based on the number of IG stories I've seen this week.

 

[bladesofgorey]

A very large number of rinks in MA are beginning to nail down what reopening will look like- and I'm glad to see they are erring on the side of extreme caution. No coaches skating on the ice, only contract freestyle skaters regardless of whether a skater who wants to walk on has a coach at the rink in order to create known "bubbles" for contact tracing, maximum of 10 skaters at a time if there are coaches on the sidelines, possibly up to 15 only if no coaches are present (coaches count in the 15 person cap). Masks at all times. Traffic flow maps, etc. (source: my mother is a skating director at one of the associated rinks)

 

[concorde]

I just got an email from SkateQuest in Teston, VA that they are reopening this Friday. The email included a list of the additional safety precautions they will be following. Interesting - freestyle ice is capped at 18 skaters and 8 coaches.

 

[overedge]

I just got an email from SkateQuest in Teston, VA that they are reopening this Friday. The email included a list of the additional safety precautions they will be following. Interesting - freestyle ice is capped at 18 skaters and 8 coaches.

That seems like a lot of people to keep six feet apart from each other at all times....

 

[MacMadame]

That seems like a lot of people to keep six feet apart from each other at all times....

It also seems like a typical freestyle session to me.

 

[Debbie S]

I just got an email from SkateQuest in Teston, VA that they are reopening this Friday. The email included a list of the additional safety precautions they will be following. Interesting - freestyle ice is capped at 18 skaters and 8 coaches.

Reston. I'm surprised they're opening already. I thought Fairfax County (bordering DC) was reopening more slowly, due to the large number of cases (which are still growing) in DC and neighboring counties. The MD counties bordering DC are barely in phase 1.

 

[sk8girl]

No word on when adult and starskate skaters will be allowed back on, but at this point I’m not expecting to see much ice, if any, before maybe September.

Update for Ontario (Canada), FWIW. With the Premier and Skate Ontario's announcements yesterday, starskate level 5 and up and adult skaters () are now allowed on the ice as well, along with the remaining competitive-track levels (pre-juvenile/juvenile/pre-novice)! Limit of 10 people per session now, including coaches, with physical distancing required, etc.

(Starskate 5 is like single axels and starting on doubles.)

The last remaining hurdle for those of us in those categories is that most of the Ontario rinks run by municipalities are still closed. But, many are planning to open soon, including hopefully mine.

 

[overedge]

It also seems like a typical freestyle session to me.

Did I say it wasn't?

In any case, it doesn't sound safe to me, with the v*r*s still around. What was normal before the v*r*s may not be feasible now.

 

[MacMadame]

Did I say it wasn't?

Did I say I was criticizing you?

 

[overedge]

@Jozet I agree that the onus being placed on the skater, and that's tricky, especially for kids who may not know when or how to say "no". And, as I mentioned earlier, it seems like some reopenings are also placing a lot of responsibility on volunteers, who may not be adequately trained or qualified for this unusual situation.

My other concern, and this has come up in some of the other v*r*s-related threads, is that there are crazy skating parents who will probably bring their kids to the rink no matter what. Which may mean those kids have been exposed (knowingly or unknowingly) to people who have the v*r*s, or who are showing symptoms but the parents write it off as "the sniffles" and make them train anyway.

In a normal workplace or other setting, people will (hopefully) make rational choices about their chances of getting the v*r*s, or make choices out of consideration for other peoples' health. But that may not happen with crazy skating parents who think that missing even one training session is going to make their kid miss out on the Olympics. And we all know those crazy skating parents are out there.

 

[MacMadame]

And while I completely understand the need to not allow parents/spectators to reduce cleaning time/locations, my husband brought up a good point while looking at our rink's proposed waivers. It puts the onus on the skater to remove themselves from a dangerous situation, one in which they believe their health is at risk. That's a lot to ask of a minor, and I'm not sure it's even legal to write that into a waiver...?

This is something that troubles me. We know about the abuses that happen in skating when there are other adults around. It seems like it would be a lot worse if you take out all spectators.

 

[concorde]

It also seems like a typical freestyle session to me.

Reston will allow a max of 36 skaters so 18 is 50% capacity. They did it go rarely to 36. 18 seems a bit less crowded than the average after school session.

 

[MacMadame]

Reston will allow a max of 36 skaters so 18 is 50% capacity. They did it go rarely to 36. 18 seems a bit less crowded than the average after school session.

Wow, that seems crazy to me. The official cap on freestyle sessions was 24 in most of the rinks I skate at but if you didn't pick the first 2 at the beginning of the day or the ones right after school, they pretty much had about half that. Even for popular sessions, 18 was a typical attendance.

 

[GarrAargHrumph]

I haven't heard anything about reopening from any of the rinks in the NY/NJ area that I work or train at. Nothing yet here. I also haven't heard any rumors of other rinks here opening, and I'm not sure which "phase" of reopening ice rinks are going to be part of. I'm thinking maybe phase 4, and we don't have any regions of the state which are past phase 2 yet. If anyone else in this region has any news on reopening of rinks, let me know. Not that I'm necessarily eager to go back, but I like to know what's up.

 

[concorde]

I am aware of at least one NJ rink that was doing "trial" freestyle sessions. I was told that the intent was to see how the proposed set-up would once the rink officially opened. That was just over a week ago, not sure if those "trail" sessions are going on.

 

[Kiki80]

It. Is. Not. A. Matter. Of. Choice. Skating. Rinks. Are. Not. Allowed. To. Be. Open. Right. Now. In Pennsylvania. Because. We. Are. In. The. Midst. Of. A. Global. And. Regional. Pandoomic. You might not like it, but saying it's a choice to allow your kid to skate in PA right now is like saying it's your choice to allow them to drive a car on the Schuylkill Expressway at 12 years old or have a few drinks at the bar with you to celebrate 8th grade graduation. These laws are in place precisely because, while some parents are, of course, responsible, time and time again parents have also shown themselves to be very irresponsible to the point of jeopardizing the health and welfare of minors -- always a vulnerable population -- even those minors who are their kids and who they also love very much.

At times, even reasonable parents make shady, dumb, and unethical decisions on behalf of their children -- decisions that are physically, emotionally and psychologically damaging to kids -- and nowhere do we see examples of that more clearly than in youth sports. Google it. There are thousands and thousands of articles out there about parents who have made their kids' lives hell because of youth sports, causing kids to hate the sport, and overbearing parents irreparably damaging their relationship with their child, and driving up costs all around because every 8 year old is Olympics or pro bound, and there's a coach, program, travel team, tournament, scout ready to swoop in and drive up costs for everyone.

You know how I know this is true? Because I know people are sneaking their kids in to rinks right now, and it's shameful. Coaches are sneaking onto ice, and I can't see how this is anything but a violation of PSA ethics. Businesses are putting themselves in jeopardy. This is exactly the kind of thing that gets warned about -- kids and parents getting so wrapped up in youth sports that child and parent identity gets unhealthily enmeshed and they can no longer "think outside the box" to make reasonable -- and in this case -- correct decisions.

This craziness is exactly why kids' sports are not to be trusted to manage themselves and why the PA Departments of Health are taking time to be thorough with more specific guidelines and holding back until they're pretty sure they are going to get it really right considering all the factors, and bravo to them.

No matter anyone's personal experience or thoughts or feelings or Google doctorate, the fact is that this is going to be an ongoing situation for months to come and we're all crossing fingers for the fall and hoping the second wave doesn't bring us to our knees. We get a short reprieve right now. This is what has always been predicted, and very smart people with lots of degrees all pretty much agree we take it slow, stay away from each other, and that businesses that make money on indoor recreating -- places filled with all kinds of bodily fluids (see previous conversation: snot and blood flying out of the nose while spinning) -- take it especially slow, and that includes skating rinks. Good grief.

The entirety of PA is a spit away from Philly, NJ and NYC, location of one of the world's biggest hot spots. That makes PA vastly different than Georgia, Florida and wherever else.

And yes, going to Walmart is stupid, but that's always been the case.

Is there something you can cite that shows that rinks are not allowed to be open or is that just an interpretation? I think a lot of things regarding closure of certain types of facilities are vague and could be interpreted different ways.

I know of several indoor sports complexes in my area that were legally able to open for planned and controlled events like sports camps, but not to the public. Is there A reason why a team practice at a rink would be different assuming the rink is not open to the public and is following the same guidelines as an indoor sports camp?