The New North Shore Ice Arena
Ice Needs Analysis
As the sport of hockey continues to grow in popularity among the north shore communities, the demand for ice has put a tremendous strain on the clubs, the parents and the children that participate in this great sport. The Wilmette Hockey Association, Winnetka Hockey Club and New Trier Hockey have over of 1,100 skaters participating in the programs. The current rinks, Wilmette and Winnetka park district facilities are simply not able to handle this demand. Only about 40% of the practices and games are currently held at these home facilities. The majority of the games and practices are held at our other so-called home facilities as follows:
Rink Distance from Subject Rink
Twin Rinks - Buffalo Grove 10
Lake Forest College 16
Skokie Skatium 10
Heartland - Lincolnwood 13
Lake Forest Academy 14
Glacier - Vernon Hills 15
Watts - Glencoe Outdoor 3
Winnetka Hockey Club Purchase of Outside Ice
Rink Weekly Hours Purchased
Heartland 11
Watts 7
Twin Rinks 8
Lake Forest College 3
Total 29 Hours
The amount of driving required to participate in the travel hockey programs has become an accepted way of life for many years. The travel required to attend home events has put a real strain on the children and families alike. On a typical night, a travel player of age 12 leaves the house for Buffalo Grove 6:30 pm. With average traffic he arrives at around 7:00 pm and is on the ice by 7:30 pm. With practice over by 8:30 pm and a quick departure, the child is home by 9:15 pm. This level of commitment has caused many parents question the sanity of the situation. The proposed rink will reduce travel time and allow more time for studies and family time which is valued by all!
Another important benefit of the proposed rink would be cost control. Ice costs have gone through the roof in recent years. Because the clubs have had to rely on private rinks with relatively expensive rates, pressure to raises rates for participants has been great. It is our intention to control our destiny and keep the game affordable to all.
The current availability of ice threatens to curtail the growth of our programs. While the travel and house league programs are as strong as ever, the girls programs have really taken off. The Winnetka and Wilmette programs have 7 girl's teams with 97 participants. The two New Trier girl's teams have been very successful as well. In 2005, the girl's team was crowned #1 in the state. The need for more ice time is crucial to the continued expansion and success of girl's hockey.
The North shore Ice Arena will be equipped with a state of the art goalie training facility and off ice training equipment. A synthetic ice surface will be used in the goalie shooting gallery. With the supervision of trained instructors, our goalies will have a chance to really excel by facing hundreds of shots an hour. Video equipment will be used to analyze strengths and weakness. Vast improvement is all but guaranteed. The off ice training center will be used to bring our young athlete into top condition. These programs are currently provided by third party groups at a significantly higher cost.
In summary, the need for this facility is critical to the success of our programs. We will be able to reduce drive times, control costs, expand our programs and offer the highest quality training available. |
