New research aims to make hockey rink bookings more fair in N.S.

New research being done in Nova Scotia aims to make booking ice time equitable for all hockey teams across the province. 

The Future of Hockey Lab is conducting a project called Open Ice that aims to collect data from rinks in the province.

Many in the hockey community say new hockey programs, like Blizzard Hockey in Cape Breton, have a hard time scheduling practices and games because other teams have long secured a particular rink or time slot.

Creating an online portal would make it easier and more fair for all hockey programs to get an equal opportunity at booking a rink, says Christina Lamey, the president of the Blizzard organization.

Since its inception, the female program has become extremely popular and Lamey said teams have a hard time finding consistent ice times due to set schedules for other hockey programs.

"All the previous users got whatever they wanted and we would get whatever is left over, which was not really working out very well when we started to become a bigger organization than the previous users were," she said.

She said the new project takes on that issue and is looking for a solution.

Lamey said rinks have been contacted and are providing examples of who is booking ice time and when. Information is also being gathered to see which programs are getting preferred ice times.

She said the ultimate goal is to create a system to ensure all teams are given an equal opportunity at booking ice time regardless of the size, financial backing or history of the team.

For the Blizzard organization, Lamey said she and others with the group are often phoning rinks during the week to see what times can be picked up last minute. She said the process isn't efficient or fair.

Leijsa Wilton is the female council chair with Hockey Nova Scotia. She said some rinks have open and fair booking systems, while others are done by word of mouth, written in a notebook or scribbled down on a napkin.

Wilton said there has been support for the project, but some concerns as well.

"We have a lot of rink managers who have expressed that they would like to change how things are done or they would be … willing to open up some ice or change how ice is allocated," she said. "They just don't want to sever partnerships that they have now."

Both Lamey and Wilton hope the data will show that better balance is needed for bookings, and that the initiative can spread across the country.