ACT Ice Sports Federation leaders committed for long haul

November 2, 2017

CANBERRA.-- Canberra's ice sports community was reassured today its representatives seeking to secure support for a new twin-sheet national ice sports centre would stay the distance.

President of the ACT Ice Sports Federation (ACTISF) Tony Prescott, has welcomed the ACT government’s commissioning of a detailed options paper for establishing the new National Ice Sports Centre. He said the federation would continue its efforts to ensure Canberrans have access to a modern ice sports facility.

“Chief Minister Andrew Barr and deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Sport Yvette Berry committed $75,000 towards planning for a new ice sports facility, and the scoping team is now hard at work assessing options for a viable and suitable facility for Canberra’s growing ice sports community,” Prescott said. “We don’t want to pre-empt its full body of work, but our team is committing every ounce of energy into trying to bring to fruition our plans for a new national ice sports centre,” he said.

The federation represents the interests of Ice Hockey ACT, the ACT Ice Skating Association, the CBR Brave (Australian Ice Hockey League franchise) and ACT Broomball.  The federation is also in talks with ice sports organisations in Australia and overseas, including those which represent ice speed skating, sled hockey, curling, and even blind hockey.

“We want to ensure a new national ice sports centre not only consolidates the national capital’s leadership in Australia’s sport and physical recreation participation statistics – where almost 75 per cent of ACT residents play sport – but also reaches out with as inclusive a policy possible so that all abilities are welcomed to participate in the ice sports,” Prescott said.

The ACT Ice Sports Federation was established in 2016. In addition to Prescott at the helm, its secretary is David Cassar, assistant secretary Christine Carey, and media officer Sandi Logan.

“We are fortunate the existing ice sports organisations in Canberra – all of which have a proud history of achievement at national and international level  – are committed to the federation and are working together to establish the National Ice Sports Centre in Canberra,” Prescott said. “When built, the centre will be a facility that our talented ice sports athletes can call home and be a place of which the ice sports community and all Canberrans can be proud,” Prescott said.

“We are very excited about our future plans for ice sports in Canberra, but we recognise this is more like a marathon than a short sprint; we are absolutely in this for the long haul.

“We remain very excited by Chief Minister Andrew Barr's commitment to work in partnership with us towards building an ice sports facility, here in Canberra, of national and international standing.

“Optimistically, we think a timetable of consultation, planning and design in 2017-18, with construction in 2018-19, enabling an operational facility sometime in 2019, is achievable, and with the government’s support in progressing the options paper, we remain on track,” Prescott added.