I would like to nominate the Katimavik community rink (located at 64 Chimo Drive, Ottawa ON) and the Katima Rink Crew volunteer team for the CARHA Hockey outdoor rink contest! It is one of only two outdoor rinks in our community so it is very special. It includes the boarded hockey rink and a large puddle beside it.
This year has been one of the most challenging years to date for this rink but this team of volunteers has not given up. Despite many hours of work being destroyed during the warm spell following Christmas, they rallied together and managed to rebuild the snow base and create the wonderful outdoor rink that our community loves.
The warm temperatures in early February forced the rink to temporarily close again and we were worried that it wouldn’t be skatable for a planned community event, “Winterfest”, on Saturday, February 18th. Thankfully the weather cooled down just in time and this team of volunteers went out and spent hours shoveling and flooding the night before and were back at the rink at 6am that Saturday morning to do 4 more floods before the event! Our community members couldn’t believe how great the ice was at the event. The rink was used for hockey and a skills competition and the puddle was used for curling and a family skate. I’ve attached a video of the event along with the photo entry.
We can’t thank our rink volunteers enough and would love to see their hard work and dedication rewarded!