An ice rink with a roof and refrigeration equipment will be ready in the village of Vastseliina in Võrumaa. Initially, due to lack of money, there will be no walls, but this will give the local hockey club and people from the region the opportunity to train on skates, for which until now they had to travel to Tartu, 100 kilometers away .
In the village of Vastseliina, of a few thousand inhabitants, as in the whole of south-eastern Estonia, there are no stable opportunities to train in skating and hockey. Despite this, the Vastseliina Vapiskud hockey club, which has over 40 members, has produced four candidates for the Estonian ice hockey team.
“We have no ice at the moment. The only option is for the children to do general medical examinations in Vastseliina, and the rest of the time we take them to Tartu. And the same thing with adults,” said Triinu Tuvike, one of the leaders of the ice rink and candidate for the Estonian ice hockey team.
Driving to Tartu, which is 100 kilometers away, takes five hours.
Nine-year-old Mari Ott is the only girl on her team and makes this trip a couple of times a week. A girl who dreams of becoming a speed skater sees every day from her classroom window how the ice rink that will be built next to her school building will soon bring her closer to her dream.
“Very nice, I want to try ice skating there,” the girl said.
Mari’s father, Urmas Ott, said that thanks to his daughter’s hobby she also started skating. He said that if southeast Estonia was known for skiing, skating opportunities would enliven the region even more.
“In remote rural areas, things keep getting destroyed or closed down, so let’s build, and I think that’s great. I hope people from Võru city and other regions come here,” Ott said.
But building an ice rink on the outskirts is not so easy: the facility, which is being built under the leadership of local enthusiast Taavi Tuvikes and with the support of the European Union and municipal funds, will be almost covered for this season, but due to lack of funds, the walls of the building and part of the roof will remain unfinished.
“We also have to work hard. Since we haven’t had a roof for years, we work alone. It would still be a dream to have a big ice rink, with walls there, so that figure skaters would have the opportunity to go more. And the plan is also around the skating rink, so to speak, to also build a speed skating rink,” Triinu Tuvike said.
The Vastseliina ice rink will be open to all interested parties in two weeks, on December 16.
2023-12-03 16:48:00
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