(file photo/northeastNOW Staff)

By Mat Barrett

Outdoor Rinks

‘There’s been enough taken away from the kids’: Town of Tisdale will keep nets on outdoor rink

Dec 1, 2020 | 4:58 PM

On Monday, Nov. 30, the City of Saskatoon made it known that they would be removing the nets from their community outdoors rinks to help discourage shinny and close contact due to COVID-19.

One northeast municipality said that won’t be the case at their outdoor rink this year as the Town of Tisdale is working to get its rink and nets ready for use. Town CAO Brad Hvidston said they didn’t feel a need to not have nets out and not allow hockey this year.

“We’ve seen that there’s been enough taken away from the kids,” he said. “We want to be able to allow them to at least have some activities and something to do.”

There will be some extra protocols in place to make sure the rink can be used safely. Hvidston said there will be benches at the rink for putting on skates to help limit the number of people in the shack and spread people out as well. Only five people will be allowed in the shack at one time as well, and as per public health guidelines, only 30 people will be allowed on the ice at one time.

Hvidston said everyone will need to work together to make sure everyone is following all the protocols, but town staff will approach people if rules are not being followed.

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“It’s an outdoor public space,” Hvidston said. “So, the onus is on the people to police themselves a little bit too.”

As for the rink itself and when it may be ready, Hvidston said staff have been working to flood the ice and get it ready for possibly as early as the evening of Wednesday, Dec. 2, weather pending.

In other municipalities, Melfort will be going forward with their outdoor skating surfaces, none of which normally have nets. They are expected to be ready soon, and the rink ran by the Kinsmen in Melfort is still up in the air and discussions are continuing. Crokicurl will also be available again in Melfor this winter.

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6