| IceWorks Skating Complex | |
|---|---|
| IceWorks | |
| Location | Aston, Pennsylvania |
| Opened | 1997 |
| Surface | Ice |
| Tenants | |
| Neumann University's Men's and Women's Ice Hockey Philadelphia Little Flyers junior ice hockey |
|
IceWorks is an ice arena in Aston, Pennsylvania USA, 15 minutes South of downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and 10 minutes North of Wilmington, Delaware. IceWorks Skating Complex opened in October of 1997. The building consists of four ice surfaces, a full-service restaurant, and other amenties.
IceWorks is one of the only public rinks in the United States or Canada that has a professional coaching staff. Jim Watson, former Philadelphia Flyer, leads the hockey staff along with the rink's General Manager Stephane Charbonneau. Uschi Keszler, coach of Olympic skater Elvis Stojko, leads a Figure Skating staff of 18 full-time coaches. Public skating is also offered for people of all ages.
It is also the training center of many national, international, world and Olympic coaches and competitors; including being the host facility for the Liberty Open Summer Competition. This competition is the largest non-qualifying figure skating competition in the world and one that draws many national and international competitors. The IceWorks Skating Club has hosted many U.S. regional and sectional championships in its ten-year existence.
Currently, Olympic athletes Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto (USA), and Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin (Russia) are training at the facility in preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Belbin and Agosto mark the first skaters representing the IceWorks Skating Club to ever win a world medal.
The rink is also notable for hosting Neumann University's Men's and Women's ice hockey home games as well as the home of the Philadelphia Little Flyers junior ice hockey team. The arena is also home to a number of junior hockey tournaments and international competitions in figure skating. Celebrity Boxing also holds events at IceWorks, including appearances by former Major League Baseball player, Jose Canseco.
IceWorks has been chosen by the United States Curling Association to be the host site for the 2012 United States Men's Curling Championship and the 2012 United States Women's Curling Championship.[1]