Paradice Avondale is an ice sports and public skate centre, opened in May 1981 as an indoor ice rink and entertainment centre. It is located in the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

city of

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, in the western-suburbs, at Avondale. It is the current home venue of the

West Auckland Admirals The West Auckland Admirals is an ice hockey team based in Auckland, New Zealand and are members of the New Zealand Ice Hockey League. The Team has always been based out of the Paradice Ice in Avondale, Auckland which in itself has a proud 41-year ...

in the

New Zealand Ice Hockey League The NZIHL is New Zealand’s national ice hockey league. It is an amateur league that was formed in 2005 to develop the sport in New Zealand and to give the top players regular competition against each other to improve the skill level of the game ...

(NZIHL) and Auckland Steel in the New Zealand Women's Ice Hockey League (NZWIHL). It is also used as one of two home venues of the Auckland Mako in the NZIHL. The arena is the oldest and largest operational ice sports centre in

History

Paradice Avondale, located on Lansford Crescent, was opened in May 1981 by Ross Blong and his wife. It was the former

dairy farming Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or ...

couple's second ice rink, having established the 'Paradice' name with their first rink in Glen Innes when they bought it and took over operations in 1974. In 1980, Ross and his wife decided to build a new indoor multi-purpose enterntainment facility, including the first international standard Olympic-sized ice rink in New Zealand. The build took a year and a half and by May 1981 the new facility was opened to the public. The rink has proven popular over the years, with public and community ice skating,

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding ...

and other ice sports being played at the arena by people of all ages. Throughout the history of the rink, it has remained a family business with Ross' children, Rosie Armstrong, Chris Blong and Darren Blong, taking on ownership roles at Avondale and the sister-facility in Botany. Since 2005, Paradice Avondale has played host and become a home venue for multiple elite ice sports programs in New Zealand, hosting NZIHL and NZWIHL games. In 2011, the venue was extensively renovated with a new ice floor and refrigeration system installed as well new dasher boards around the edge of the rink.

Facilities

The arena's facilities were built in 1981 and have been gradually updated with the last major upgrade coming in 2011. They include: * 60 m × 30 m ice rink (Olympic sized with disco LED lighting) * 500 spectator capacity * Skate and equipment hire * Café * Snack bar * Laser tag * Birthday party room * Public toilets * Lockers * Outdoor parking

Events

The arena hosts public skating and disco nights events. Paradice Avondale is associated with a number of ice sports clubs and associations that operate a number of junior, community and elite level programs and events at the venue. These include Auckland Ice Hockey Association, Hockey House, New Zealand Ice Figure Skating Association, Allegro Ice Dance Club, Auckland Ice Figure Skating Club, Glenburn Figure Skating Club, Hauraki Ice Racing Club, Ice Speed Skating New Zealand and Auckland Curling Club. The arena organises its own skating academy that holds events throughout the year. The arena hosts national level ice hockey games during the NZIHL and NZWIHL seasons.

References

External links

*
New Zealand Ice Hockey League

New Zealand Women's Ice Hockey League
{{Whau Local Board Area Sports venues in Auckland Indoor ice hockey venues in New Zealand 1981 establishments in New Zealand Sports venues completed in 1981 Whau Local Board Area West Auckland, New Zealand

History

Facilities

Events

See also

References

External links