On-Ice Awards Ceremonies

[FigureSpins]

At a few competitions this year, the awards ceremonies took place on the ice.  It seemed like a nice idea, but one of the events was disorganized and a little scary to watch.  They actually used plyometrics boxes and the skaters were waaaay too little to step up, especially from the bare ice while wearing skates.

What are the best practices for holding on-ice awards ceremonies? 

[Clarice]

We do ours off ice.  We have a nice three-tiered podium, and decorate with a balloon arch.  An announcer makes the presentations over a microphone and presents the awards.  Parents are encouraged to take their own pictures of the group (we don't have a professional photographer), and can use the podium between presentations to take more pictures of their skater if they want.

The difficulties we've had are that when events are coming close together (such as compulsories), we can't always get the entire group together for a presentation.  Also, the older skaters often just want to take their awards and leave, and don't want to participate in a formal presentation.  This is disappointing to those who wanted to have the names announced and go through all the pomp and ceremony.  We're considering scheduling awards presentations for the ice makes, but are pretty sure that won't solve all the problems either.  I'm interested to hear how others manage this.

Just saw that you're asking specifically about handling on-ice awards ceremonies.  We would never do that, mostly because we wouldn't want to take up ice time with it.

[FigureSpins]

That's ok - we do the same. Our club does off-ice awards during ice cuts, it works okay.  Same situation with conflicts/skaters leaving early.  I like the balloon arch idea.  We have a lovely trellis backdrop that volunteers assemble each year.  The stands are wooden, but no skates are allowed.  Even with guards, the wood would get chopped up and there are concerns about losing balance and falling.

I asked about on-ice awards because it was novel to me.  I've only see it at elite competitions, so I wondered how to make it work well.

At Nationals, the organizers literally rolled out a red carpet to/under the podiums.  The presenters wore shoes and walked on the carpet, e skaters skated to the podiums and stepped onto the carpet there.


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[taka]

We have our skateUK competition presentations on ice, same with our club competition (though that no longer seems to run. ).

The podium boxes are painted wood with carpet tile on top and can be carried on to the ice individually and are set up roughly at right angles to the middle hockey line but maybe 3 or 4m from the edge - so the parents etc can still see from the stands. They are big enough to accomodate a couple of people on each level. I suspect it is the same podium they used when I was a kid!

There is usually someone to help skaters on and off the bronze step of the podium from where they move to the correct step, 1 person to identify and pass the appropriate medals or trophys and certificates to the person presenting them and someone presenting them. They are usually some of our club committee in shoes / boots. One sometimes wears curling grippers.

There is a table for trophys, medals and certificates set up to one side between the podium and one of the exit gates. The coaches man the other exit gate on that side of the rink to only allow the appropriate people onto the ice and make sure everyone is there. In the skateUK competitions everyone gets a certificate and the comp only lasts a couple of hours including ceremony so most stay to cheer friends on and get their certificate.

They sometimes put a carpet on but not always - it is sometmes quicker for a couple of the engineers to carry the trophy table on than have them put the carpet down then the table be set up by the club committee. The rink charges more or less the same for the off ice room as it does for the ice so they just do it on the ice.

Our open competition is too busy for on ice presentations so they open up the "off ice studio" and have the presentations in there (usually during the ice resurfacing) . They have a official photographer who has a backdrop that is used and there are sponsors banners displayed either side of the podium. The podium itself is a much prettier one.

[fsk8r]

In the UK it seems to be more common for competitions to have the presentations on ice. It seems to be the rarity that they're done off ice and then it always seems slightly disappointing (to me).
Synchro competitions generally have all the teams on the ice before the presentations start and then the whole team is lined up behind the correct part of the podium with the captains on the podium. This is more fun than the general presentations as you get to chat to the other teams while waiting.
I've never had a problem stepping on and off the boxes although you do need to be careful of skates on the red carpet. I think it's more just remembering that you can't skate on it!
Because we don't seem to have as many competitions as you have in the US (we don't have compulsories only programs), people seem to remain excited about the podium spot so tend to stay for presentations if they can, although sometimes people will leave early for logistical reasons (generally they're travelling a long way), but will generally tell the organisers as they want their medal / trophy.