California’s Ice Age : Ice Skaters Find Their Winters of Contentment on Southern California Rinks

Rosaria Locasso of Hawthorne had never ice-skated and knew nothing about hockey when she began playing it four years ago at age 35.

“I was from Oklahoma,” she said. “I never even knew what hockey was.”

Now Locasso, a computer-systems analyst, averages about three times a week on the ice. She is one of about half a dozen women in her league of nearly 300 players.

Thanks to the Winter Olympics in Calgary and accompanying media coverage, ice skating throughout the nation and in its various forms is coming off the best winter it has had in the last four years, according to Michael Paikin, general manager of two rinks--Pasadena Ice Skating Center and Van Nuys Iceland--and a director of the Ice Skating Institute of America.

Sport for All Seasons

In Southern California, however, ice skating is a sport for all seasons and all ages.

Rinks are open year-round. When the mercury is soaring toward the 100-degree mark outside, ice skating offers a different way to cool off. Some rinks capitalize on this incongruity by staging summertime snowball and snowman-building contests.

Skaters, who number in the thousands in Southern California, range in age from 2-year-olds to senior citizens in their 80s.

“Grandparents bring their grandchildren ice skating,” Paikin said. “It is one of the few sports, in my estimation, that the whole family can do together.

“On Thursday nights at Pasadena, we have almost 50 adults taking classes, all different ages and both sexes,” he said. “Ice skating is great exercise. You do it at your own speed, you get off the ice when you want to. You’re in complete control.”

The sport offers camaraderie too.

Most rinks have amateur figure-skating clubs associated with them. The largest of the local clubs, the 749-member Los Angeles Figure Skating Club, uses the Pickwick Ice Arena in Burbank. Founded 55 years ago, the club offers social as well as competitive skating activities.

As in many sports, both skating equipment--the strength of the boots and design of the blade--and the skill of competitors have improved.

“Kids coming up have much higher coordination levels,” Paikin said. “The things we are doing with youngsters today weren’t even thought of 15 or 20 years ago.”

Eleanor Schultz, president of the L.A. Figure Skating Club and a skating judge, agreed that competitive figure skating is becoming increasingly athletic, with triple jumps virtually a must in advanced competition and quadruple jumps on the horizon.

Skaters who hope to follow in the footsteps of Olympic gold-medal winners Brian Boitano or Katarina Witt must start young.

“Nine or 10 is rather late,” said Shirley Alexander, director of the skating school at the Courtyard Ice Capades Chalet in Rolling Hills Estates. “Five or 6 is much better.

“To become a competitor, you need a lot of dedication, parental backing, and a lot of hours on the ice--six hours a day, six days a week,” she said.

But recreational figure skaters who have no interest in becoming the next Debi Thomas (Olympic bronze-medal winner) still have plenty of opportunity to show off their talent and to measure their improving skills.

One such opportunity is Showcase America 1988 at the Pickwick arena in Burbank this weekend (see box).

Jack Curtis, a CPA in Granada Hills and frequently a judge for national ice-skating competitions, came up with the idea for the showcase 15 years ago. “If you want to jump,” he said, “fine, but nobody is counting revolutions.”

He explained wryly: “A large number of talented skaters--because of their intelligence or other debilitating limitations--didn’t like to hurl their bodies onto the unyielding ice, which is what it takes to learn jumps when you are beginning.

“The skaters might be very entertaining, spin, dance, do all kinds of things, but advanced jumping was not there for them. There was no place for them to go, nothing to challenge them.”

Along with Showcase America, skating schools at various rinks also put on summer ice shows that give their students an opportunity to perform, sometimes before standing-room-only crowds. The shows may be headlined by well-known performers. For example, Olympic competitor Christopher Bowman starred in the Pasadena center’s show earlier this month.

Two national organizations, the Ice Skating Institute of America, which promotes recreational skating, and the United States Figure Skating Assn., which oversees competitive skating, sponsor regional and national competitions. Each organization also has a series of tests, which can be taken at local rinks, to measure a fledgling figure skater’s increasing proficiency.

Residential Summer Sessions

For those serious about improving their performance, the Ice Castle International Training Center at Lake Arrowhead has residential summer sessions of two weeks or longer. Lessons on the ice are supplemented by classes off the ice in ballet, jazz dance, aerobics and jump training. Currently, students train at the Ice Castle rink at Blue Jay (see below), but a new rink on the camp’s grounds will open next January, spokeswoman Pam Quenzler said.

The center’s staff of coaches is headed by Robin Cousins, Olympic gold medalist and three-time world free-style champion. Information: (714) 337-0802.

Although speed skating does not enjoy the popularity here that figure skating does, there are three speed-skating clubs in the Los Angeles area--Culver City and Pickwick and Ice Club De Morra. They make up the Southern California Speed Skating Assn.

For those who would like to try the sport, free instruction, coaching, equipment and ice time is available for the initial sessions, according to Jim Wilkins of Downey, president of Ice Club De Morra. Information: (213) 803-4512.

The National Novice Hockey Assn. has about 1,000 members, both male and female, in Southern California and requires no previous hockey--or even skating--experience.

For such neophytes (who must be 21 or older), the organization offers an eight-week training course, beginning in the fall. The first few weeks stress skating.

“Then we start working on all the other elements: stick handling, shooting, passing, team strategy,” said Michael Shannon, the association’s vice president and national administrator.

All Fell Down

After completing the course, novices are assigned to teams that play an eight- to 10-game season. Shannon recalls his first game after taking the training course. At the opening face-off, the puck hit the ice and promptly was followed by both teams, as all 12 players fell down.

Cost for the training course and novice season is $248, Shannon said. Equipment and uniforms are extra.

Many of the novices progress to the association’s intermediate program. Its third and most advanced program, Hockey America, is for serious, experienced players. These two programs cost $280 for a 20-game season.

Each team usually has 16 to 18 members, but there are no bench warmers, Shannon said. Both league regulations and the strenuous nature of the game insure this.

This strenuousness is part of hockey’s appeal for Rosaria Locasso, who now plays in an NNHA intermediate league.

“It is very vigorous,” she said. “I like that physical aspect. Another thing that is very important: It is the first team sport that I ever participated in. It is a real experience to have the friendship of the guys on the team, all working together toward something.”

Not that her acceptance by male players was universal. “Some men really have a problem with women being on the ice,” she said, “but the guys on my team are real nice to me. I’m just another teammate, which is how it should be.”

The NNHA does not permit checking (body blocking). Fighting draws a suspension. “We stress safety and a strong anti-violence stance,” Shannon said.

A second adult hockey group, the Los Angeles County Hockey Assn., has about 400 players and is open only to experienced players, administrator Donna Butcher said.

Two of its three divisions play full-contact, checking hockey with modified NHA rules, she said. Players must be 19 or older. No checking is allowed in the third division for players 25 and older. There is a $10 registration fee and each game is $12.

Those interested in the novice association program should contact it immediately after Labor Day at (800) 446-2539. For the L.A. County Hockey Assn., call (818) 700-2471.

Some Prefer Watching

For those who prefer watching skating pros to getting out on the ice themselves, Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park is presenting a “Superstar Ice Spectacular” daily except Monday through Sept. 5. Shows are at 2, 4, 6 and 8 p.m. on Saturdays, and 3, 5 and 8 p.m. the other days. In San Diego, Sea World features “Summer Nights Celebration on Ice.” The Ice Capades will be at the Forum in Inglewood Oct. 26-Nov. 6 and in San Diego Oct. 19-23.

Hours for public skating may vary because rinks rent ice time for special activities. Some rinks offer money-saving specials like family or “cheapskate” nights. Rinks in Southern California include:

Blue Jay: Ice Castle, Highway 189, (714) 336-2111.

Burbank: Pickwick Ice Arena, 1001 Riverside Drive, (818) 846-0032.

Costa Mesa: Costa Mesa Ice Capades, 2701 Harbor Blvd., (714) 979-8880.

Culver City: Culver City Ice Arena, 4545 Sepulveda Blvd., (213) 398-5718.

Harbor City: Olympic Ice Arena, 23770 S. Western Ave., (213) 325-4475.

Newbury Park: Conejo Valley Ice Skating Center, 510 Ventu Park Road, (805) 498-6660.

North Hollywood: North Hollywood Ice Capades, 6100 Laurel Canyon Blvd., (818) 985-5555.

Norwalk: Norwalk Ice Arena, 14100 S. Shoemaker Ave., (213) 921-5391.

Ontario: Ontario Ice Skating Center, 1225 W. Holt Blvd., (714) 986-0793.

Palm Desert: Palm Desert Ice Capades Chalet, Palm Desert Town Center, 82-400 Suite A, California 111, (619) 340-4412.

Paramount: Paramount Iceland, 8041 Jackson St., (213) 633-1171.

Pasadena: Pasadena Ice Skating Center, 300 E. Green St., (818) 578-0801.

Rolling Hills Estates, The Courtyard Ice Capades Chalet, 550 Deep Valley Drive, (213) 541-6630.

San Diego: Ice Capades Chalet, University Towne Center, 4545 La Jolla Village Drive, (619) 452-9110.

San Diego: San Diego Ice Arena, 11001 Black Mountain Road, (619) 530-1825.

Van Nuys: Van Nuys Iceland, 14318 Calvert St., (818) 785-2171.

West Covina: West Covina Ice Arena, 2235 E. Garvey Ave., (818) 966-8667.