Skating in Australia?

[Kay]

Hey guys,

I was wondering if anyone has any experience or knowledge about the level of figure skating in Australia? I am moving there for school, and I checked out the national website, but I was hoping for some first-hand knowledge. Is it more expensive compared with North American skating? How often are their competitions? How competitive is it? What are the facilities like? The pictures from some of the training sites there look quite impressive, and most of the rinks that they have are near-Olympic size. Anyway, I would love to hear any and all information anyone has to offer!!!

Thanks

[rf3ray]

Where abouts in Australia are you skating or will be which city Perth, Sydney? etc


Hey guys,

I was wondering if anyone has any experience or knowledge about the level of figure skating in Australia? I am moving there for school, and I checked out the national website, but I was hoping for some first-hand knowledge. Is it more expensive compared with North American skating? How often are their competitions? How competitive is it? What are the facilities like? The pictures from some of the training sites there look quite impressive, and most of the rinks that they have are near-Olympic size. Anyway, I would love to hear any and all information anyone has to offer!!!

Thanks

[Bunny Hop]

Where abouts in Australia are you skating or will be which city Perth, Sydney? etc
I was going to ask the same question. Australia is geographically about the same size as the USA, so what might look like a lot of rinks in a list are actually very sparsely spread. It's certainly not like many major cities in North America, where there will be several rinks within an easy commute. Melbourne, the second biggest city in Australia, for example, has only one rink. Even in Sydney, there are really only two rinks within easy distance of the city centre - the others are quite a long drive into the outer suburbs. Depending on where you're living, public transport to the various rinks may not be terrific (when the rink I learnt at as a teen closed I basically had to give up because I couldn't get to another easily by public transport). Anyway, I don't want to sound negative, so I'll move on.

I can't give much advice, as I haven't lived in Australia for some years, and haven't skated regularly there for a lot longer, but I can answer one of your questions. Yes, it is more expensive than North America, at least in terms of the cost of skating sessions (though if you're coming from the US, the US dollar will work in your favour). Someone else will be able to advise on the cost of lessons.

When my husband and I were back in Sydney for Christmas, we skated at Macquarie Ice Rink a few times, and the people there were extremely friendly and helpful. They came up and spoke to us voluntarily (and weren't scared by our attempts at ice dance :lol:) and were very welcoming. The rink there is very nice, Olympic size, and feels quite spacious due to the high ceiling (it's in a shopping mall). The ice is good, though it can get quite wet at the end that has the floor to ceiling windows. Haven't been to Canterbury rink since I was a teenager, so can't really comment, but it is also Olympic sized.

I'm guessing you're probably not going to Hobart, but the people there were also more than friendly. The rink there is teeny tiny (quarter size), and they don't have a zamboni, but the ice was still okay (much better than we expected), and there were very few people at the sessions we went to. But SkatingOnClouds can tell you more about that if you do need to know anything.

That probably hasn't helped very much, but might have given you a little more information!

[blisspix]

QLD - has an excellent reputation, but rinks are spread out from Brisbane and beyond.

NSW - you would most likely be looking at Canterbury, Macquarie and Sydney Ice Arena. I skate at the first two and both are Olympic sized. You may find sessions more crowded and time-limited than you are used to in the US (depending on your level). Ice Arena is the newest rink, I have not skated there but many of our top skaters do.

WA - I used to skate at both rinks, Cockburn is the better of the two but is about 40 minutes drive south of Perth. Added distance to get to competitions, which are mostly in the Eastern States.

You will find the expense of getting to competitions will increase - there are few locally (a few trophies, nationals etc) so if you want to get more competition experience you must travel far and of course this costs more from Australia. Boot and blade costs are also much higher, and the range more limited. If you have a preference for a particular set maybe buy an extra pair before you come!

Competitiveness? Depends what you are doing now! We have skaters at every level, but obviously not as many as the US.

[Kay]

Thank you for all of your replies.

I am still deciding on which school I will be attending, but definitely East Coast, at this point most likely either in the Sydney or Brisbane area, or potentially Melbourne.... still deciding!

Hopefully wherever I end up, I am close to a rink since it sounds like there is some decent skating!

[aussiemum]

I've driven around a lot of the country taking my daughter to competitions. NSW has some fantastic rinks. As someone mentioned there is a couple close to the CBD, I've also been to the ones in Blacktown and Penrith. The one in Penrith is great and very flash looking with a good atmosphere, the one in Blacktown is less flash but also has a good atmosphere. Others have told me the Hunter rink is great too but I havent been there.

I've also been to two of the rinks in Queensland at Acacia Ridge and Boondall...both are great rinks, with excellent facilities and friendly people.

One of my favourite though is the one in Melbourne at Oakleigh, it is old and the ice is smaller but the atmosphere is fantastic and the coaches, skaters and everyone are really welcoming to "strangers".

As you are planning on going to the east coast I wont mention SA and WA.