Theft at the Rink.2

A couple of years ago I blogged about theft at the rink as a general topic. Until this weekend it hadn't reached my home rink.

One of the coaches was wandering around barefoot after freestyle was over. She drew Miss Bianca aside and said her shoes were missing. Knock off Uggs, but apparently someone really, really wanted them.

And they never turned up. The coach had to drive home barefoot. Theft has finally reached my home rink.

I admit that when I first started skating, I worried about someone stealing my shoes. I used to keep a spare pair in the car, just in case. I guess I need to start doing that again.

The other rink I skate at has had signs up about theft for over a year now. Someone would walk off with hockey equipment, and sometimes just pick up a skate bag during the LTS class (I guess just hoping there was a wallet in it). That rink I could understand it happening. It's a mall rink with people wandering in and out. My home rink is a rink rink.

Well, the coaches don't have a pros room. They store their bags in an out of the way place, but it's not locked or particularly hidden. Still it seems like an inside job. You have to know the rink and its customs.

This only works if the thief knows where the wallet is.

Anyway, the same day I had to move a gift bag to get to my skate bag. When I bent down to lift it aside, I saw a cell phone on top. Some people are begging to be ripped off.

 Locking things up in a locker may be the safest for public sessions, but not every rink has lockers. And if you're careful, you probably don't need it. My previous post has some good suggestions.

Rink Collapses in Bad Weather

Usually I reserve Sundays for funny stories, but Hurricane Sandy is due to hit the US East Coast this week. Respecting that, I decided to go for a safety related post. I spent years working as a volunteer in Disaster Preparedness, it gives you a certain mindset.

Stay safe everyone. Prepare for loss of power. Remember, canned food can be eaten even if it's cold (have a manual can opener handy), get a flashlight not candles (a house a block from me burned down because the owner wanted to amuse her kids by using candles in the last big hurricane--10 years later it's finally getting rebuilt), don't open your refrigerator unless you have to (in order to keep the cold in), and if you see anything worth videoing--you'd probably be better off finding someplace safer to be. If your house has trees near it, don't stay on the upper floor if the storm is likely to blow a tree down on your house.  Have suitable clothing on. If you think you'll have to walk out of your house, have an emergency kit ready to go. Have cash. Keep your cellphone charged and your car's gas tank full. Be ready to live without power for 3 days. Don't dither.

But what about ice rinks in bad weather? Anyone on the East Coast worrying about their ice rink not surviving the storm?

Rink roof collapses due to heavy winter snows surprisingly are not that uncommon. I can imagine that a hurricane will also do damage. So, in general, what's it like being in an ice rink when it collapses?

Hallowell, Maine ice rink after collapse

Well, here's a video of a rink in Slovakia when it collapsed. As far as I know, everyone walked away (there was a youth team in the rink for a game). (Article) All the adults seem to be organized and effective in getting everyone out of the building. And, just a note, I'll never think about the boards and the barriers the same way again.

Even scarier is the collapse of a rink in Pennsylvania where the ice resurfacer was on ice when the roof went and the police called out cadaver dogs.  Or what about the one in Maine, where 'they felt the rink shake'.

Fortunately, most rink collapses are without loss of life. There are a couple of notable exceptions--Bad Reichenhall in Germany comes to mind with charges of managerial negligence being made. I believe the collapse occurred during what we would call public sessions. Given the inexperience of most skaters on public and the number of people on ice, it may have been impossible to clear the ice before the roof collapsed. In all the cases I read of where there was no loss of life, the people on ice were all experienced skaters.

In several cases I read about, there was mention of a loud snap or sound like a gunshot shortly before the collapse as structural members gave way. In most of the cases there appeared to be enough warning to get people off the ice (provided they were people who skated regularly) before the roof completely gave away. Usually it was only a short period of time (perhaps a couple of minutes or less), but one rink took several hours before the roof caved in. This last rink appeared to be an exception.

What's my survival plan?
Don't Panic. Don't Dither.
Know where the emergency exits are.
Get off the ice and out of the building if possible and next to an exterior wall if not possible, or at least get next to the boards where there's some barrier above it. Inside the boxes also might be survivable. In some cases the lobby might be under a separate roof structure than the rink. That may be safe as well.
As an adult skater, help others that need it. In other words, be a grownup and don't panic.

Or move to some state without snow. Texas has some nice rinks.

Take care in the storm and be safe!

Skating Etiquette for the Complete Beginner

How to Behave on Public Ice

First Rule Of All: Don't hang around in one place. This is called camping out, or hogging the circle. Yeah, this means you, you hockey adult learner practicing your back and forward crossovers on a hockey circle for 30 minutes.

Let me explain, just because your coach teaches you on a hockey circle there's no reason that you have to spend your entire practice time on one. Try alternating back and forward crossovers down the rink. That get's you moving. I can assure you, that once you pass the pre-Bronze adult test you will never skate crossovers in a circle again. Get your butt moving. That's how you'll learn to skate.

Second Rule of All: Don't hog a spot on the boards. Need some support on the boards for a new element? Sweetie, you don't own the boards. Move after you've done a few.  And when you move check traffic by looking both ways!

Third Rule of All: Yes, even as a beginner you can skate in the center. But the law of survival demands you keep your eyes open when you do this. There will be people jumping into the center and wanting to spin there. Be respectful of the other skaters--go to the center to work, not to chat. Don't hog the line, the circle or the center. Leave that up to the teenagers. If you're a regular, or you look like you have power/skills/or are a serious skater, they'll generally give you room (but when you get to that point, you won't need this post. Just relax, that day will come when the teenagers will give you space.)

Fourth Rule of All: Don't swear in an ice rink.  You can't say the D word, or the F word, or the S word around kids. It doesn't matter that the kid's parents are slack jawed yokels that can't string a sentence together without using the F word as a non-specific intensifier, you're not supposed to swear.

Corollary: If the F word slips out after a crash, no one will notice because the music is so loud. Your coach will look shocked though.

Fifth Rule of All: Don't skate drunk. Yep, I've seen it. One woman was doing drunk baby toe loops during a holiday skate, then she came over and clutched at Dance Coach while babbling about not being drunk. "Old girlfriend?" I asked drily after she skated away. He shuddered, "Never saw her before."  

Corrollary: If you say "I'm not drunk," you are. And the good looking coach is not your old boy friend.

Sixth Rule of All: Enjoy your skate. It's easy to become obsessed or frustrated with some element, or lack of progress. Take some time off and do stuff you like. If you're reading this blog, you're not going to the Olympics, you're skating for fun. Have some.

Seventh Rule of All: Even if all you can do is skate and stop, you're in the top 50% of all the skaters on public. It's your job to look out for them.  Be aware of your surroundings. Don't skate backwards unless you can look behind you, or have a spotter. When entering traffic, look both ways. Don't stare at the ice while you're skating, look ahead at the other skaters, so you can avoid them. It's a lot like driving. Drive Defensively. Skate Defensively.

Eighth Rule of All: Well, this isn't so much a rule, as a suggestion. If you're a regular at a rink, learn the rink guard's and desk staff's names. Be nice to them.

Public skate is for the public. Just about the only enforced rule is to follow the direction of traffic. For all the rest you're on your own!

No Midweek Ice

Tuesday Night Ice Sold to Hockey Team

Wednesday Ice Disappeared for the Week

Friday afternoon ice Sold to a Hockey Team

Theft at the Rink

I've only had stuff missing from my bag twice, and it's entirely possible that they fell out or I just left them on the bench. Freestyles are usually safe. Skaters put their purses or wallets and phones out off reach in the hockey boxes at many rinks, and ice monitors keep an eye on what's going on. Public sessions on the other hand--even in the daytime--can be a wild west show. Still it surprises me that I have never heard personal stories about it. So I Googled it.

From the Google news, it's usually people who either break into the rink after it's closed and take money from the office, or steal money out of locker rooms. One woman who bucked this trend would steal money from purses during birthday parties at the rink--and she was stupid enough to get caught twice at different rinks. The interesting thing about the thieves I read about was that they KNEW THE RINK. One man dressed up as someone coming in to play hockey by carrying a large obvious hockey bag before he waltzed into a locker with the key in the door. Other locker room break ins were perpetrated by teens who knew the rink layout. Even the woman who stole at birthday parties, knew how the rinks worked.

I found one case only, where someone lost something other than out of a locker room or a party. This person left their wallet and cell phone under their bag, under the bench. Okay, there's world's stupidest criminals, there's also world's stupidest victims.

Don't make it easy

So herewith is some common sense advice for rink theft if you skate at public sessions or are attending a game or competition:

1. Don't bring a lot of money and credit cards to the rink--unless you carry them on your person
2. Don't leave your car keys in the bag--especially if they have a remote opener on the ring. With that remote opener, even if someone doesn't know what you drive, they can still find your car.
3. If you leave stuff in the locker room, bring your own lock. Better still leave your money, cards and phone with a friend, family member or coach.
4.  For public sessions, zip your bag up. It won't deter a thief, but it helps keep children's wandering hands out of it. I like to put my bag on top of a vending machine especially to avoid the problem of unattended children riffling through my bag.
5. Carry a duffel or other cheap bag. You can stuff one of these in out of the way places to make it hard to get to. Zuca's are too unwieldy to do anything with other than to set them out in the open.
6. If you have to leave money, phone or wallet in a bag (and I don't recommend this at all) don't put it in there in front of everyone watching in the lobby. Put it in the bag while you're still in the car and bury it deep in the bottom or in a pocket with a lot of junk at the top. Turn your phone off.

Is it worth it to use the public lockers? Geeze, I don't know. My rink charges about $2 to use a locker. I've never seen anyone use them. However, at one rink I skated at once, the rink creeped me out so much, I put my shoes and empty bag in a rented locker. What can I say, it was a sleezy rink. Don't miss it at all.

Depending on where you live, leaving stuff in the trunk of a car is usually a safe bet. Don't leave a purse in view in the car. Just common sense.

Fortunately, the rink security cameras appear to be pretty effective. In several cases I read about, they were the direct cause of capturing the perp.

 

What? The rink cameras caught me?

 

I Want to skate THERE!

One of the things that puzzles me about the rink business, it that most of the rinks have the most appalling websites.  I've  been in some heavy duty software training for the last week, with nothing to do in the rare breaks but surf the internet, so I started randomly looking at rink websites. Most are awful, some are god-awful.

Sin Number 1:  A web page that looks like it was designed in 1998. Mysterious resolution changes between the home page and the rest of the webpages show up at the Pittsburgh Ice Castle along with a host of other formatting issues. At least they don't use <blink>,
Sin Number 2: Pages that run on, and on, and on. People don't scroll down to find your latest update, or older up date. The Ice Castle was bad, but I think Prince William Ice is even worse. Major items of importance such as the schedule and the map are at the bottom of the home page.
Sin Number 3: Rink information that is written for the 'entre nous' group. I give as my primary example, the Robert C. Crown Center, Evanston, IL. The new customer will type in the name of the rink or 'chicago ice rinks' into Google, and for this (apparently) huge facility, get a single web page with a few PDFs linked to it. There doesn't even appear to be any online Learn to Skate registration. This must be the few rinks in the US without online registration. There may be a better webpage for the rink with better information, but the one that comes up at the top of the Google list is the one new people will go to. Way to go Evanston!
Sin Number 4: Limited coaching information. Voila! The Desert Ice Castle. This rink has Frank Carroll, the premier singles coach in the US and 4 other coaches. They all seem pretty high level coaches. Are they manning the learn to skate program, or teaching adults? Probably not. So how does a skater find out about coaches that might be more appropriate for 'the rest of us' who aren't headed to the Olympics? Some other rinks don't have any coach information AT ALL! How are less famous coaches supposed to get customers if they can't have a bio posted?
Sin Number 5: Mysterious, poorly explained Learn to Skate programs. I hate to hit up one rink twice, but The Desert Ice Castle wins again! Here's a link to their LTS program. I like the total description of the skating school levels, "Levels 1-5". WTFO? It's using both ISI and USFSA. What does that mean? Even more reason to have more detail on the LTS program. Here there's not even any exhortation on how to dress a child for skating, or even any information about whether you get passes for publics or if the registration pays for skates. No online registration. And here's the kicker. The cost of the class is on the skating class form, but not on the registration form. Way to go Desert Ice! Making it difficult for your customer to spend their money at your establishment.
Sin Number 6: No mobile compatible website. Rink Management -- get over it--people use their phones. Get a mobile compatible website up.

Best Rink Website I've Found: Ice Chalet, Knoxville, TN. Home page is a little long, but the important stuff is at the top. Group lessons and the ISI skating program is detailed so it's clear to the parent. For private lessons, there's both an outline of the program and a list of coaches, with bios.  Lot's to admire about this website. No wonder the rink looks like a fabulous place to go!

I want to skate THERE!

Evaluating Ice Rinks--Part II On Ice

Now we move onto the ice area:

Are the mats in good shape? If there are areas where its worn through (such as at the gates) are extra mats placed down?  Are they secured in some way so they don't move around? Are there loose areas of mats where you could trip? Is there equipment lying around? Do the mats look clean?  If they don't you'll want to take care to wear your skate guards.

Are safety rules obeyed? No one on the ice during ice grooming. Are the doors shut during grooming. One rink I went to had an announcement: "We are about to open the gates, please move slowly onto the ice." and the rink guards stood at the gates to monitor.  Very professional. Do they keep people out of the hockey boxes during public? I don't like this rule personally, but I admit it's a good rule in general. Do you see hockey sticks or pucks on public ice? I've never seen this, but people I know have. Big no-no.

Are the rink guards clearly identified by a jacket or vest? Do they put out the cones? Do they actually patrol around the rink or do they fool around and mess with their friends? Yes, I've seen a girl in a rink guard jacket practicing jumps and spins in the center with her friends. Also hockey boys on duty playing with their hockey buds. Poor management oversight.  On the other hand, I've been at a rink where the guards not only wear prominent orange blaze jackets, but red fanny packs marked First Aid and had Bluetooth headphones to talk to the front office (it was a huge facility). Nice touch. And they were clearly patrolling.

 My observation is that rinks seem to vary widely on the competence of their on ice staff. Some are awful.  Some are great. One of the best  rink guards of all time was a teen age girl, weighing all of  110 lbs, who broke up a fight at my home rink between two hulking grown men. 

The Ice: It's almost certainly going to be hockey ice. Why even bother hoping for figure skating ice. I think it's nice for the ice to be groomed at least once during a heavy public session, but locally this is rare. At one U.S. rink I was at, not only did they groom the ice mid session, they reversed the skating direction. I felt so Canadian.  Is the ice deeply rutted? Does it have Lizard skin (aka tire tracks)? Condensation bumps? Toepick potholes? Thin ice?  I had a home rink for many years that had a spot that  occasionally showed sand. That was bad. Finally, is there a big pit like depression in front of the resurfacer doors? Does the ice tilt or undulate? Extra minus points for both tilting and undulating. There's something going on down beneath the ice to cause that.

It's probably not the dead rising from their graves causing the ice to undulate.

...Unless you're skating in hell.

Personally, I like rinks with high ceilings. I've skated occasionally at a local rink that had one of those lowered insulated ceilings. I felt like I was in a shipping container. But that's a personal preference.  There's no safety, or business issue associated with it.

You'll note that I have completely bypassed the rink snack bar. You should too.

What's a deal breaker for me? Believe it or not, it's not the ice. No one has nice public ice anymore. My deal breaker is the booting up area. If I have to sit on the floor, it's not a good sign. The one rink where this happened, I now know to take a towel to clean up the floor so I can sit down. But the second thing is that  at my age, seeing me get up from the floor in skates is like watching an arthritic cat trying to get up on the couch.  It's a sight you don't want to see.

Evaluating Rink Facilities--Part 1 Off Ice

I'm a systems engineer.  I work and skate with other engineers. For us, walking into a new rink and checking out the facilities is always fun.  I'm not talking about evaluating the coaches or the freestyle sessions, or the psychotic skating moms. It's the facilities, staff and public sessions I'm interested in.

First off, the exterior:  Does it look presentable and welcoming? Parking lot well lit? People think of rinks as safe. Generally true, but a place that's surrounded by trash and has an unlit parking lot should set up mental alarms. There is one rink I won't go to after dark because of the parking lot. It is unlit and surrounded by dense stands of trees. Oh so pretty in the daytime. Oh such a nice place for bad guys to hide at night.

Front Lobby:  Is there a manageable line to the cashier, or is it a big pool of people trying to figure out who's next? A rink I visited recently had a roped off cashier's line to keep it neat. Classy. Is the cashier organized? Or are they confused by the POS menus and credit issues. I've stood in line for 5 minutes waiting for a single person to get a credit card payment to work.   What about the skate rental area? Is there one of those boot sizing mats on the floor? That's very helpful. Now for a caution: If there are lockers, do they look like they've been broken into? That always makes me think twice.

What I'd like to see in a front lobby is an standalone system where regulars with their own skates can upgrade their cards and pay for sessions without going through the cashier. That would be sweet.

Seating area: Are there benches (preferable), or individual chairs welded to tables (ugh)? Are there places to put skate bags?  I was at a rink recently where they had only a single line of benches, no place to put shoes and skate bags. The lobby floor was littered with people's stuff.  If the fire marshall had seen it he would have closed the place down.  Are the booting benches placed so rink observers take up space there? Or is there a special observers area? I skated at a rink where the booting area was placed so observers could see the rink. I had to sit on the wet floor to put my boots on so lazy, fat parents with their kindles could watch their precious. Look parents, if you care that much about your precious, get your lazy fat self out on the ice, other wise go sit in the stands, not the booting area. Yes, I'm still ticked off. That floor was nasty.

This is an area of rink design that I've only seen done well in a couple of rinks. The metal benches with the cross bars underneath so you can't put your bag or shoes out of the way are particularly odious. One rink had built crude benches with shelves underneath; nice touch. It kept the lobby clear.  The booting up area is done so poorly at some rinks it  sometimes seems like the skater is the last thing on anyone's mind when they're building a rink.

Rink Staff:  Uniforms such as rink T shirts are nice. But rude and confused lobby staff send a message that worse is to come. The cashier is particularly important. A poorly set up POS system that the staff cant work with , can really mess with guest time in line and overall satisfaction. I either have a rink card or pay cash to avoid any problems with paying. (Although one rink cashier looked at me in shock. "No one pays in cash anymore.")

Summary:
1. Exterior--watch for safety and crime issues
2. Front lobby--payment and staff should be well organized.
3. Seating--places for shoes and bags,  seating should be structured so that it's convenient for skaters not for observers
4. Rink Staff--are they visible? Paying attention to the customer rather than their friends?

Tomorrow I'll talk about the ice side of the rinks.

Paying the Coach

I've read about rinks with elaborate schemes for paying coaches. You have to get a card, or you have to get a ticket, or you have to check in at the front desk and pay there, or you have to sign in and give a copy of some ticket to the ice monitor. I get confused with all the ticketing, and signing. The rinks I skated at, I paid cash.

Cash to the ice monitor, and sign in. Meet my coach on the ice, give him/her cash after the lesson.

When I first started skating, I paid by check. Then I had a coach who looked at me and said, "Babbette, let me tell you something, coaching is a cash business." So ever since then, I've always paid my coaches in cash. I've never skated at a rink with complex billing systems (except Lake Placid and that doesn't count).  What happens between a coach and the IRS is none of my business. I assume they report every penny.

But these easy days of forking over some of my walking around money in order to go on a freestyle session are coming to an end.  I'm about to start Freestyle sessions at a new rink. I was going through their freestyle rules when I found the payment chapter:

• 
  
  
  

  1. Payments for freestyle sessions are made at [rink] Guest Services using a [rink]  Debit Card, [rink]  Gift Card, credit card, check or cash. Please note that there is a $50 minimum for placing funds on [rink]  Debit Cards.
     
  2. It is the responsibility of the skater and parent to pay for each session BEFORE the session begins, including morning sessions. Bridging half of one session and half of the following session as one session is not permitted. Skating for any part of a session counts as skating for a full session. No exceptions will be made for lessons.
     
  3. Skaters must register at Guest Services before every session and leave a copy of their paid freestyle receipt. It is the responsibility of the skater and parent to notify Guest Services if they are having a lesson, and to name the coach and duration of their lesson. Each skater must sign-in and attach his or her receipt to the Freestyle Log.
     
  4. All lessons are scheduled in advance. Instructors must be notified at least 24 hours in advance of a lesson cancellation. Coaches will charge students the full lesson fee for any absence from a lesson that is not cancelled at least 24 hours in advance. Outstanding fees must be paid before lessons can continue.

  
  
•         5. Salutes will be rendered to the ice monitor when stepping onto the ice. (Just kidding.)
  
  
  

  

  Permission to enter the ice?

Did you catch that? There need to be at least THREE(!) receipts. One for the desk, one for the monitor, and one for the payer (because they have to give you one to keep).Plus there may be another receipt if the coach is given one they don't mention. And you have to register at Guest Services and the ice monitor.  Shouldn't one receipt be enough? Everyone will tell me this is typical or normal. Man, it sounds like a jackbooted accounting hassle to me. I still remember 'secret adult freestyle' at my first rink, where all we did was stuff cash in an envelope and sign in at 0800 on a Sunday morning,  then skate for as long as we paid for, no matter what time we showed up. Good times. Good times. 


I'll never see the like again.