I've been skating at my rink for over 13 years. Way back in the day, we used to have two rinks at this facility. Due to high maintenance costs (and probably high rent), one of the rinks was eventually shut down and converted into retail spaces. At the time, we also used to have adult-only group classes. It was awesome.
Don't get me wrong - I am happy to see so many kids participating in my favorite sport. But the reality is that classes have gotten so big at our rink that my upper-level adult freestyle group has been relegated to half of the end of the rink. That means 8 adults have to cram into an area slightly bigger than one hockey circle. To complicate things even further, at least two of us (myself included) jump and spin "the other way." Every week we play a game of Keep Away so we don't collide into one other.
I would really love to have an adult-only class session (it would still range from Basic 1 through Freeskate 6). Many adults need extra space because we are a bit slower and more cautious on the ice. It gets nerve-wracking when kids are whizzing around us, even if they are in the next class over. I can't tell you how many times a kid crosses the imaginary line between our designated class space and gets *thisclose* to knocking out an adult. Or vice versa. If we had an adults-only class session, we could significantly decrease the number of skaters on the ice and give each of us more room.
I've made the plea to our skating director before, but I haven't gotten my wish yet. It probably makes good business sense to pack the session with both kids and adults alike. Otherwise you'd have to open up another 30 minutes of ice time that could be used by another paying group. Until I get my wish, I'll continue keeping my eye out for kids and my counterclockwise-spinning classmates so I don't run into them. First world problems, I know.
What does your rink do? Do you have an adults-only group class session, or are kids mixed in as well?
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