Hailey D

Review of Thunderbird Shop at UBC- (Div....

Okay. I frequent this place often for their open f...

Okay. I frequent this place often for their open figure skate time, and I ve always loved it. The Protrans rink is good ice and it s not too crowded. I will continue to go here despite the few complaints I do have.

I m not a student and having to pay $12 for parking and $6 for admission EVERY time I come (in the summer it s 5x a week) is really doing damage. A punch card or frequent flyer points or something other than drop in admission would be greatly appreciated. I know parking is up to different campus people but it s a bit ridiculous that there s no free or discounted parking for a sports venue that many people come to daily for the gym, ice, etc

On a Friday night there was only one staff available to help over 80 people pay, rent skates, and answer any questions. A friend and I waited for 15 minutes of a 1 hour open skate block and moved two places forward. The poor staff guy was overwhelmed! Payments were quick and easy but getting and exchanging skates for people was killing any momentum. We walked away.

I ve also been to public skates where there is either no staff on or near the ice in case of incident (unsure of policy here, but have previously been under impression that there should be ice staff in addition to office staff on the clock for public skate) and also had staff on the ice that NEVER put his phone down. I m talking head down, skates on, doing lazy circles while texting on ice for TWO HOURS. Ridiculous. I get it, it s boring, but it s such a small fraction of their time and he was so preoccupied and became a hazard to everyone on the ice. Multiple people narrowly managed to avoid him. Imagine a ref with a book in his hands during a game!? Pretty sure there s gotta be a rule for phones on ice.

As said, I ll keep going as the ice quality, figure only time blocks, and well maintained facility make it a great place. The major issue errs more on the staffing situation.