AN ENDEAVOR TO AID WINTER SPORTS IN INDIA

iSKATE promotes winter sports in India by supporting ice skating rink in Dehradun and the world’s highest ice skating rink in Leh

NewsPatrolling.com (Media partnered with Niryas.com): Located on the 6th floor of Ambience Mall, Gurugram iSKATE has been visited by 18 lakh ice skating enthusiasts till date for leisure as well as professional training sessions in winter sports such as figure skating, speed skating and ice hockey. Over the past 6 years, iSKATE’s vision has expanded beyond creating a niche in leisure to the overall development of winter sports in India by way of expanding its reach to all strata of society.

With an endeavor to nurture and develop the sport of Ice Hockey in India, iSKATE supports the vision of The Hockey Foundation (THF), a New York City-based charitable non-profit with a global mission to empower under-served youth, promote social change, peace and prosperity, and support community development through the sport of ice hockey.

Under this initiative, iSKATE has collaborated with THF that recently inaugurated the world’s highest ice hockey rink in Chibra Kargyam village of Leh district in India. Made as per the Olympic standards, the dimension of the rink is 60 m by 30 m and it is at an altitude of 4374 meters. “THF spent 2 years in fundraising from both corporate and private individuals to raise capital for this project.” said Robert Ruszala. He has been associated with The Hockey Foundation since 2003 and has also played the sport of ice hockey in his youth.

THF has built ice rinks in Ireland, Ukraine, Argentina, Egypt and 12+ ice rinks in USA. Under the partnership, iSKATE will support the sport through ice hockey and learn to skate training programs imparted by international and in-house coaches through the year.

In addition, iSKATE endeavors to partner with the Government of Uttarakhand to revive and operate the only international regulations Ice Skating Arena in India, located at Dehradun. iSKATE proposes to provide technical guidance, through their expertise in operating an ice rink in the most energy efficient way. The 2500-capacity rink was built during the South Asian Winter Games in 2011 and is the only international sized skating rink in the country. However, post the South Asian Winter Games in 2011, the rink has been inactive due to its high maintenance cost.

“With such initiatives iSKATE will continue to promote winter sports in India and help open the doors for talented and aspiring athletes to international events as well as attract international participants and tourists to India. With support from the government and sporting bodies iSKATE is committed to strengthen  infrastructural development of world class ice skating sporting venues such as iSKATE, so that players are able to perform their best”, Karan Rai, Operations & Business Development Head, iSKATE.

The ability to play winter sports at India’s only all year ice skating rink iSKATE has made it extremely popular among youth, families and corporates appealing to age group spanning 5 years to 55 years. iSKATE has hosted and supported numerous National level events in Ice Skating, Speed Skating and Ice Hockey in the past along with numerous training camps and sports welfare programs.