An Award-Winning Facility in Arizona
(Not That One, The Other One) By Kent McDill
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n 2016, the PSA Fritz Dietl Award for Ice Skating Facility Management went to the Ice Den in Scottsdale, Arizona. At that time, the management of that facility was busy spending $3 million to rehabilitate an ice arena facility in nearby Chandler, 14 miles to the south. It is five years later, and the Ice Den Chandler is now the 2021 Fritz Dietl award winner. The Fritzl Dietl Award for ice Arena Excellence honors the lifeftime dedication of Fritz Dietl to the ice skating industry and his determination to encourage innovation and excellence in facility management operations and programming. “It’s an honor,” said Julie Patterson, Vice President of Programming and Skating at Ice Den Chandler. “We have a great staff in both facilities, and the staff can transfer between facilities. We try to maintain our programs to run the same. “It is a challenge to run two facilities at the same time,” she said. “We have a very large staff that has been with us for a number of years.” The Chandler facility is a stand-alone structure with wide-open spaces
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inside for viewing activity on the rinks. It has a spacious retail shop for both figure skating and hockey, and a food and snack stand which also has a view of the ice sheets. There is actually little difference between the two facilities. Chandler has only two sheets of ice compared to three at Ice Den Scottsdale, so balancing the schedule is a bit more hectic in Chandler. But Patterson and her staff do their best to balance the interest in both figure skating and hockey, which has turned into a huge team sport in the state of Arizona. Does that seem unusual, that skating would be so popular in a state where the outdoors is relatively pleasant year-round? For
those people who don’t necessarily love the excessive heat, an ice rink is the perfect place to get exercise without suffering from the rays of the burning sun. “We have wait lists for some of our classes,” Patterson said. “The past couple of years, it was challenging for every rink to stay in operation, but right now our classes are filled out. “We actually promote it that way,” she said. “‘Come in and beat the heat’” is one of our best slogans.”
A haven for PSA instruction Patterson takes pride in her facility’s working relationship with the PSA and its coaching education programs. “We are very strongly involved with the PSA,” Patterson said. “We promote everything the PSA does. We agree that a coach’s education and continuing education is important. We have quite often held Ratings Prep events for coaches in the area, and we encourage coaches on our staff to have a rating with the PSA. Our staff is very well educated and continues their education yearly.”
