Contributed by Sue-Anne Chng
Singapore’s first synthetic ice rink is situated on SAIS’s foundation campus. (Photo courtesy of Sue-Anne Chng)
Friday, February 5, 2010 - Stamford American International School (SAIS) today announced Singapore's first synthetic ice skating rink on the school's Foundation Campus at Lorong Chuan.
Working in collaboration with the Singapore Ice Hockey Association (SIHA), this trial of the technology aims to make ice skating and ice hockey more accessible in tropical Singapore and offer quality ice sport programs to students.
Speaking at a media preview of the ice rink, Brian Rogove, the Chief Executive Officer of Cognita, Asia Pacific said, "Figure skating and ice hockey are popular sports in North America, and we saw this opportunity to work with SIHA to try out this synthetic rink on our campus to give our students exposure from a young age. This is in line with our holistic approach to education, which emphasizes a balanced lifestyle and teamwork."
Made of high-tech polymeric compounds which closely mimic the performance of real ice, synthetic ice is especially suitable for Singapore's tropical climate as it does not require a climate-controlled environment and is significantly easier and cheaper to maintain compared to real ice surfaces.
"Since the closure of the Jurong Entertainment Centre in 2008, the national ice hockey team has had to resort to training on a concrete hockey court, so we're very happy that Cognita has worked with us to temporarily install the synthetic ice rink at SAIS," said Michael Lambert, Treasurer of SIHA.
With the 2011 Asian Winter Games in Kazakhstan fast approaching, the all-Singaporean national ice hockey team will be training on the SAIS rink thrice-weekly as they prepare to represent Singapore in the sport for the very first time.
"This ice rink certainly comes as a timely arrival to both SIHA and SISA as our associations work towards helping Singaporean ice sports break into the international arena," noted Mr. Lambert.
Although the rink is a temporary fixture for now, Mr. Rogove said, "We will certainly take the opportunity to work with SIHA to assess the feasibility and long-term benefits of installing a synthetic ice rink when we move to our Permanent Campus on Upper Serangoon."
"The lack of ice rinks in Singapore has also limited the sport's growth amongst youth here, and we hope that the new synthetic rink can help to spark more interest among students in Singapore," added Mr. Lambert.
As part of SAIS' community engagement efforts, it is extending an invitation to the public to try out the rink over two weekends: 13-14 and 20-21 February 2010. The four, half-hour slots per day are available on a first-come-first-served basis through registration.
Interested members of the public can pre-register online via SAIS' website, www.sais.com.sg. Please contact SAIS with any questions at +65 6602 7247 or email:reception@sais.com.sg. Confirmation is based on a first-come-first-served basis.
Dates
13, 14, 20, 21 February 2010
Time
2:00- 2:30 pm
2:30 – 3:00 pm
3:00 – 3:30 pm
3:30 – 4:00 pm
Fee
$10 per half hour slot, inclusive of skate rental*
Venue
Stamford American International School
11 Lorong Chuan
Singapore 556821
*Skaters need to bring their own socks. They are also advised to bring gloves for safety reasons.
omg, this is so cool.but after these days of trial, will the rink still be open for public usage? Also, does anyone knows where to learn ice hockey in Singapore??