Winter is coming to Allegheny, and so is ice skating.

In the middle of October, Allegheny Recreation provided a row of free ice skating opportunities for students to open a winter season. 

Based on the success of previous one-time ice skating during COVID-19, the Recreation team tried to repeat that experience

 “Our club hockey team was trying to figure out a way to get their ice rink fees down and the only way to get lower fees is if they reserved more ice time,” Jared Luteran, Assistant Athletic Director for Recreation & Facilities said. “Allegheny Student Government and Allegheny Recreation agreed to reserve more ice time to help bring their fees down.”

The agreement was that the college would pay for several of the dates so they could be used by the Allegheny community. Despite the fall break date, the last day of free ice skating was prosperous.

“I didn’t expect a large turnout for Oct. 10 during fall break, but it was our largest event,” Luteran said. “We had around 40 people there.” 

The rink is located at Meadville Area Recreation Complex, which is a 10-minute drive from the college. MARC provided skates. The first group of students got there on Oct. 3rd by the college shuttle.

“I fell, and hit my leg for a little bit, but it was kind of a soft fall,” one student said. “That helps me realize that hitting yourself on ice isn’t that terrifying.”

By and large, it did not matter how good students were at ice skating.

“I enjoy ice skating just as much as anybody else, but I am not the best ice skater,” Luteran said. “I never played hockey so I didn’t learn to ice skate until I was an adult.”

“That’s a great way to burst into excitement and get tons of emotions, especially if you are not very good at skating.” said Anastasia Kityk, ’24. “Grab your friends so you will never fall alone!”

Closer to upcoming breaks there will be more opportunities for skating since the initiative had a demand among the students.

“We will have more free dates in November, December, February and March,” Luteran said.

Luteran also explained why the community stuck to the idea of making this activity open for everyone on and off campus.

“There is no limit to how many people can go skating, so it’s a great opportunity to bring together members of the Allegheny community,” Luteran said. “It is always nice to see students skating alongside employees and their families. It brings all Gators together!”