Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A HANDFUL of budding ice hockey players had the rare chance to practice their puck-passing skills in Bendigo yesterday.
The group enjoyed an early morning session at the temporary ice rink set up at the Prince of Wales Showgrounds.
It was an opportunity to practice the sport they all once regularly played in Bendigo before the former ice rink in Golden Square, their home ground, closed in 2010.
The session's organiser Nancy Davis, who is also president of Bendigo Blaze Inline Hockey Club and former Central Victorian Ice Skating Entertainment (CVISE) president, said the ice hockey group would be taking every opportunity to use the temporary ice skating rink until the end of January.
Among the players happy to be skating again in Bendigo were her children, Emily, Charlie and Jayden Davis-Tope.
"It's awesome because otherwise we would have to drive to Melbourne to skate," she said.
"We left 10 minutes ago and here we are at a rink, instead of driving two hours.
"I'm just so excited to see people out there skating."
Thirteen-year-old Emily, who now plays in the under 18s national women's team for Australia, was particularly thrilled.
Monday was the first time she'd played her sport in Bendigo in years.
"It's really good having a rink in my hometown because it's not far away and I can just go to it and practice," she said.
Emily said playing for the national team meant getting up at 3am and driving to Melbourne to make the 6.30am training times once a week.
Despite the distance and early starts, Emily's hard work recently paid off - her team won for Australia against New Zealand last week.
Ms Davis said she hoped Emily's story would inspire others to take up ice sports.
"She comes from a town with no rink, and yet she was able to make the national team, and was only one of four kids from Victoria picked," she said.