Ice Skating For Fun And Fitness at The Bill Collier Community Ice Arena

  

The Bill Collier Community Ice Arena is enjoying its 14^th season of providing affordable wintertime recreational opportunities for the residents of and visitors to the Klamath Basin, including figure skating, hockey, broomball, curling and a variety of special events.

For five months of each year, from early November through the end of March, on-ice activities provide both fun and fitness benefits for all ages, including better balance, improving joint flexibility, toning unused muscle groups, building cardio health through aerobic exercise, improving endurance and self-confidence along with providing stress relief and mental fitness, among other benefits. 

Most importantly, the ice arena provides an outdoor activity during an indoor time of year.  You won’t remember sitting on the couch in front of the television set but you will remember an afternoon or evening on the ice with family and friends!

Through grants and fundraising, the Bill Collier Community Ice Arena has made a number of significant improvements to its facility and operations over the past year, including new paint colors together with the sanding and refinishing of the roof beams, new LED lighting, improved electrical systems, theatrical lighting capabilities, an ice-surface laser leveling device, new rental skates and, soon, infra-red heating over the bleachers area.

That a state-of-the-art ice skating facility exists in the Klamath Basin is amazing enough.  That it provides such worthwhile benefits for more than 22,000 skater visits each season is even more amazing. 

Try it!  Learn it!  Love it!  Come skate with us!  

The Bill Collier Community Ice Arena

5075 Fox Sparrow Drive

(at the entrance to the Running Y Ranch Resort)

Telephone:  541-850-5758

Website:  www.klamathicesports.org

Email:  funontheice@klamathicesports.org

Klamath Falls YMCA

In an interview with Renea Wood, Program Development Director at the Klamath Falls YMCA discussed the successes of 2015 and what is on the agenda for 2016. 

Renea explained that in the last year, the YMCA went through a rebranding process that refocused efforts on community partnerships and outreach.  For example, an employee from the Y found that a group of seniors attending a pool class could do more than just swim together.  The social connection forming in the class created an opportunity for the YMCA to coordinate regularly scheduled events for seniors in the community to attend, like a shopping day in Medford!  Renea states she is hoping to increase awareness of these events to help support the well-being and happiness of our Klamath Falls seniors. 

Another goal for 2016 is to expand on community youth sports and meet the needs of the community.  Renea says that similar to the senior programs, the Y aims to create more than an experience of physical activity for kids.  Their sports programs incorporate mentorship between youth and coaches in a comfortable, relaxed environment to encourage friendship and camaraderie among the players. 

The Y is also proud of the success they have had with a free t-ball program that is sponsored by the Junior Giants program, out of San Francisco.  Running through the summer, this program focuses on bullying prevention, literacy, and teamwork and has served over 200 kids each year in the Klamath area. 

Other opportunities to look for this year at the Y are youth basketball leagues, field trips to outdoor recreation locations throughout the year, and summer camp.

The YMCA is looking forward to bringing all these programs to Klamath Falls in 2016 and hopes to see you there!

YMCA Klamath Falls

1221 S. Alameda Avenue

Telephone: 541-884-4149

Website: http://www.kfallsymca.org/