An Ice Rink in Cleveland as a Way Rise Student Physical Activity

Students frequently find themselves complaining to their friends and family about how they wished they had more free time, or maybe how they wished they could find the motivation to be more productive. They feel like if they just had more time to do the activities they wanted, then they would feel contented in life. This is especially widespread in college students who feel stress from the constant demand for school and all of their homework. Starting in high school and moving to college, students learn to cope with their stress in unhealthy ways often leading to toxic reflexes. Students never truly learn how to deal with their stress in healthy ways. In reality, because of all the time they spend stressing and procrastinating over everything, they use up all of their potential free time. If, on the other hand, students spent more time focusing and working on everything they needed to get done, they would actually have more free time to partake of the things they enjoy most. Students need resources to destress in a way that will help them to use their time more efficiently.

One of the many ways to destress is by engaging in some form of physical activity. Exercise is scientifically proven to enhance levels of happiness and release stress in people’s bodies. Scientists speculate whether or not exercise increases productivity. Many can see relationships between exercise and productivity, but there is not sufficient evidence or a direct correlation between the two in order to conclude that exercise really does lead to increased productivity. In an article by Gatab and Pirhayti, they concluded from a study looking at two different groups of male students that “regular exercise can increase happiness and improve general health in students”. Although numerous gyms stretch across the country, they are often too expensive for penniless college aged students. One of the principal reasons people end up avoiding the gym is from a lack of time and confidence. Ironically, although the gym can increase confidence levels, students often avoid it because they are not confident in themselves to begin with. People feel they do not have an adequate base of knowledge on how to build an effective workout for themselves. Other activities such as going to the movies or on a camping trip require planning and money, and most students do not have tons of money to spare. As a result of having little spending money, students veer towards staying in their dorms and homes on the weekend so as not to spend money only to find themselves feeling more stressed and bored when they want to get away from their homework. They feel the need to find an outlet for their energy and an escape from their desk but are not sure how to do so.

In Cleveland, Tennessee, college aged students make up approximately 14.6% of the population, as shown in data from the United States Census Bureau. Cleveland does not have very many opportunities for students to engage and destress outside of the college campus or their school surroundings. Since college aged students make up such a significant part of the community in Cleveland, there is a huge need for inexpensive and non-time-consuming activities for them outside of campus. In a survey conducted at Lee University, 77.47% of 71 students surveyed responded saying they feel like there is not enough to do in Cleveland . While the city does offer several parks, pools, and a recreation center, as shown on the City of Cleveland, Tennessee website, they are primarily geared towards young children not giving college students many options outside of those.

One of the possible solutions to this problem would be to build an ice rink where students could find physical outlets for their energy. Not only would an ice rink offer a more inexpensive way for students to destress and exercise, but it would offer new job opportunities to those who already know how to ice skate or just love spending time at an ice rink. Students in Cleveland do not have enough opportunities to engage in the community outside of campus, and by building an ice rink, we could encourage a healthy environment for students to spend their free time.

Ice skating encourages health and fitness by helping people to build major muscle groups such as glutes, hamstrings, abdominal and core, and quadriceps. It also helps people improve their overall balance, which can translate into other areas of life. Ice skaters, such as figure skaters or hockey players have exceptional balance and strong ankles because of their need to turn at any given moment. In the same study conducted at Lee University, 80% of the respondents said they enjoyed ice skating. Not only do they enjoy it, but almost all of the students surveyed would be in support of building an ice rink in Cleveland and would go ice skating there if given an opportunity.

Although they are very costly, I believe college students and also families in Cleveland would support the building of an ice rink. Further, there are numerous ways in which to fund the building of an ice rink. For example, several of the options for constructing and running an ice rink includes funding through a corporate sponsorship, city involvement, or public-private partnership. In a journal studying the feasibility of an ice rink, the author gives examples of the different ways ice rinks have been funded and run in the past. In one example of an ice rink in Klamath Falls, OR, the author describes the funding and operation of the rink.

And the last, however, while this may be a good way to raise money to construct and open a rink, Reese indicates that the “ice rink operates at a loss”. In a later statement, she also says, “Our research indicates that community advocacy is the catalyst for successful ice rinks. At each stage of the project – from conception through operations - local communities can provide critical support”. She found that successful ice rinks needed community support as opposed to “debt financing for construction”, that rinks need corporate sponsorships to help cover cost gaps, and that the support from the community is critical to keep an ice rink up and running.