Last week I had the opportunity to attend the Skate Social that was being hosted by KINections in collaboration with MoveU. Let me tell you, I had a blast! As someone who hasn’t been skating in at least five years, I will admit I was a little nervous, but I ended up having a great time!
Student blogger Madison Burnstein ready to start the skating season (photo courtesy of Madison Burnestein)
One of my favorite parts about this event was the fact that over the course of the skate they had Christmas music playing. This really got me excited for all the fun and joy that takes place leading up to the holidays. This event also allowed me to take a step back from school for a minute, and focus on having fun with my friends. With exams coming right around the corner, it can be hard to be stress-free, but this environment definitely allowed for just that.
All the staff that were working the event were so friendly. I didn’t own a pair of skates prior to this event, but conveniently, there were skates available for rental. The gentleman working the desk was great in helping people get their correct skate size. They also had a person on the ice monitoring for anyone who may be getting carried away during the skate, as well as keeping an eye out for potential injuries. I found this comforting as someone who is not an avid skater, that there was someone experienced on the ice to help me if I needed.
When I was registering for the event there were two different skate times that were being offered. I thought this was beneficial because the ice wasn’t completely packed. There was a comfortable amount of people to allow for skaters to skate free and steer clear of other groups of people. Since it was a social event, there was groups of people either in pairs or pods, chatting amongst one another. I love the fact that the theme behind this event was skating because not only is it a fun activity to do with your friends especially during the winter time, it genuinely got me excited and motivated for this coming holiday season. Sport & Rec also offers drop-in skate times that are scheduled almost every day. Don’t fret if you weren’t able to make it to this event, drop-in skates are very similar and worth giving a shot!
The KINections program is proudly sponsored by U of T affinity partner, Manulife.