The English Ice Hockey Association, British Ice Skating and the Ice Rink Managers Association have written a letter to the Prime Minister asking him to classify ice rinks as sports venues.
The Covid-19 pandemic has shone a light on the difficulties faced by ice sports due the classification of ice rinks as entertainment venues, placing them in the same category as casinos and bingo halls. Ice sports are Olympic and Paralympic disciplines in which Great Britain has a history to be proud of, so it is entirely wrong for these training grounds of future stars to be in the same category as amusement arcades.
The letter requests that all ice sports and rinks are classified as sports not entertainment going forward.
It also passes on praise to the team at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport who worked hard to allow ice rinks to re-open for some in tier three. At one stage no exemptions were likely and many hours of hard work were put in by all parties to change this.
This is a first step in what will be a sustained effort by all bodies and comes off the back of a lobbying campaign that led to exemptions being granted for under-18s, disability sport and elite athletes in tier three in England.