Almost every rink probably has this problem: Skaters who don't pay. You may have noticed them. They sneak in to the rink at other than the normal entrance, then do their best to avoid being noticed. Or they rush pass the person looking for admissions IDs too fast to be checked or stopped. They pass their admissions ID to a friend, or take one out of the trash, repairing it if needed. If the rink rotates colors, they keep a collection. They out-skate the rink guard, so they can't be caught. As a rink guard I've also heard a lot of excuses. They lost their ID. It fell off. The cashier forgot to give it them them. They don't have to pay. Sorry they just forgot, won't happen again (can even be true).
The problem is obviously not unique to ice rinks. Any facility or activity with paid admissions just have the same problem. Ice rinks have a special problem - hockey teaches kids to cheat. A significant part of hockey team play appears to be distracting the referees to look at one part of the rink, while people in another part cheat in one way or another. It's just another fun part of the game - but it teaches kids the value of breaking the rules whenever they can get away with it, which they happily apply to other aspects of life, including paying admissions. BTW, it's not just the hockey players who cheat admissions at ice rinks, or who look at cheating as a fun game to play.
Most businesses, including ice rinks, run close to the margins of economic viability, and are often a small step away from closing. Even community-subsidized facilities justify their budget in terms of the number of users - counted as customers who pay. So if, say, 10% - 35% of the skaters cheat, depending on factors like physical security, human security, the methods of evaluating whether the customer paid, and the enforced penalties, that can make a big difference in whether the facility can continue to run.
So, let's have a discussion here about practical, affordable ways a rink can use to get more customers to pay, and things they shouldn't do.