March 15, 2021 at 8:14 a.m.
Hosting state tournament caps strong year for RIA, despite pandemic
Hosting state tournament caps strong year for RIA, despite pandemic
The RIA hosted the Wisconsin Amateur Hockey Association (WAHA) Peewee 3B state tournament this weekend. Rhinelander did not have a team in the field this time around, but rink manager Brett Aylesworth said it's still a shot in the arm for the association, which has hosted a WAHA state tournament in seven of the last nine years.
"It's nice to be able to host and not have a team. We make revenue on it. Teams are coming to Rhinelander," he said. "This would be a slow time of year for us anyway. We slow down in March. To be able to fill it up with a state tournament is awesome."
It happened this year that Rhinelander did not have a Peewee B team this year, otherwise it would have had a spot in the tournament. According to Aylesworth, the association applies to host state tournaments anywhere from two to three years in advance, and applies to host multiple different levels. Typically, WAHA announced state tournament hosts more than a year in advance. Rhinelander has already been named the host of the Peewee 3B state tournament again in 2022.
Since Rhinelander did not have a team, Merrill, another member of WAHA Region 2 received the automatic bid as the host of the event. Tomahawk, Shawano, Somerset, Sauk Prairie, Tomah/Sparta, Waupaca and Oshkosh rounded out the eight-team field.
Aylesworth said hosting a state tournament brings in a nice bit of revenue for the association.
"We got a $6,000 check from WAHA," he said. "We have to pay the refs, but we don't have any other expense. We pay the refs out of that. Some other organizations would have to rent ice. If they don't own their own rink, they'd be going to some rink and renting ice like they do all season, so they wouldn't necessarily make as much as us."
Last year, Rhinelander hosted the Bantam 3A state tournament which took place in the first weekend of March. That ended up being the last weekend of normal activity before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold.
As a result, this year's state tournament looked a little different than years past. Teams were limited to only four spectators per player. Teams could get in the building only a half hour prior to their games and had to leave as soon as possible afterward. Concessions were limited to only a handful of pre-packaged items and coffee.
Meanwhile, in between games, locker rooms, player benches and the spectator seating areas all needed sanitizing, to allow for a new group of players, coaches and fans to use the facility.
"It makes things a little more complicated, a little more hectic," Aylesworth said.
Luckily, virtually all of the WAHA's policies are ones the RIA has followed all season anyway. Despite the pandemic, the association was still able to successfully host its five typical annual youth tournaments. Aylesworth said, despite concessions being limited, the association fared well fiscally with those events. Losses from the concession stand offset by slightly higher tournament fees and strong raffle sales.
In fact, overall, Aylesworth said the rink has fared very well despite the pandemic. The biggest hits, from a revenue standpoint, have been due to the lack of concession sales and the inability to host open skating times for the public.
"Our revenue is down almost exactly what our concession stand makes us. It's down but, considering the year, we're pleased," he said.
Aylesworth said the association saw an uptick in participation this year, especially in the younger levels. What's more, he said none of the RIA's youth teams had to pause activities this winter due to a positive COVID-19 case.
"I couldn't believe it. I said, 'There's no way we won't shut down each of these teams once or twice over the course of the year.' We had other teams calling us to cancel because they were in quarantine or whatever. Probably every weekend we had game disruptions, but not on our end. Nothing from us," he said. "Something needs to be said with the people of Rhinelander doing it right."
Aylesworth said the hope is that the virus will be under control to the point where the rink is able to get back to the full programming it had prior to the pandemic by the start of the 2021-22 season. In the meantime, the remainder of this season will look a little different. There will be extended spring ice at the RIA this spring, thanks in part to a new in-house junior hockey program that will focus on skill development during the months of April and May. The noontime adult hockey program and open skating may also return on a limited basis this spring. Currently there are not any plans to have ice for a period of time this summer.
"We're just going to start slow and see how it ramps back up," he said.
Aylesworth credited the association's group of volunteers between its hockey and figure skating programs for making this season as successful as it has been.
"It's been a great year for volunteers, everything," he said. "If you think about it, you're not going to get people who want to come volunteer. For our people to run those tournaments, volunteer for them and be here and take care of everything, that's pretty cool."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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