Seneca News

Students at King Campus enjoy some outdoor skating during the inauguration of a new ice rink this week.

Feb. 6, 2020

Winter just got better at Seneca’s King Campus with a new, outdoor ice rink steps away from Magna Hall.

The rink, inaugurated with music, hot chocolate and a lovers’ skate on Tuesday, measures 100 feet by 50 feet. It took more than 10 truckloads of water to flood the area. A few days of frigid temperature then created the natural surface on which students can now skate and play shinny or just hang around at nearby benches to enjoy the latest wellness and recreational activities offered directly outside the classrooms.

Students skating
The new outdoor ice rink outside Magna Hall provides easy access for international students to get a taste of skating.

On hand to help the students acquaint themselves with the new facility was Seneca’s own hockey superstar and graduate Angela James, who spearheaded the project. Ms. James, Senior Sports Co-ordinator at Seneca, is one of six females inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and was recently inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. According to her, the ice rink will not only open up new opportunities for winter sports at King Campus, it will also be of special significance to international students.

“We have a number of international students here and we want them to get a taste of skating and to familiarize themselves with a key Canadian sport such as hockey,” she said. “In previous winters, we had skating on Lake Seneca but I wanted to have an ice rink closer to Magna Hall for easy access.”

Recreation & Leisure student Ryan Richards was one of the students who trickled in to skate, some of them borrowing skates that were available at the reception.

“The rink is a great addition to the campus because not everyone is exposed to skating,” said Mr. Richards, a first-time skater.

Angela James
Angela James, Senior Sports Co-ordinator at Seneca, spearheaded the outdoor ice rink project at King Campus.

Carson Nurse, a hockey player, was equally excited at having an ice rink within easy reach. A student in the Honours Bachelor of Therapeutic Recreation degree program, he said the rink provided more than a chance to play and have fun.

“In my course, I’m learning how to take care of mental health issues,” Mr. Nurse said. “The rink is a very therapeutic and recreational spot, and just hanging around here, having fun, is wonderful.”

As for Ms. James, who led the Canadian women’s hockey team to four world championships in the 1990s and has had a hockey arena named in her honour in Toronto’s Flemingdon Park neighbourhood where she grew up, the new ice rink at King Campus is very special.

“It is a nice, warm feeling to see that people are enjoying our Canadian way,” she said, “whether it be their first time skating or they are just out there having fun with each other.”

Carson Nurse, Kelly Melo, Jacey Ryan playing shinny
From left: Carson Nurse, a student in the Honours Bachelor of Therapeutic Recreation degree program, plays shinny with Kelly Melo, a student in the Honours Bachelor of Community Mental Health degree program, and Jacey Ryan, a student in the Honours Bachelor of Behavioural Psychology degree program, during this week’s inauguration of King Campus’s new ice rink.