The Planet Ice Silverdome Arena is a 2,000-seat multi-purpose

arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

in Basingstoke, England. It was built in 1988 and has an Olympic sized

ice rink An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water or an artificial sheet of ice where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The growth and increasing popularity of ...

. It is one of several ice skating arenas in the UK operated by the Planet Ice company. It is home to the

Basingstoke Bison The Basingstoke Bison are an English Ice Hockey club from Basingstoke. They currently compete in the National Ice Hockey League , NIHL National League and have previously been members of the Ice Hockey Superleague and its successor the Elite I ...

and Basingstoke Buffalo

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

teams. The first ever hockey game played at the ice rink was between Basingstoke Beavers (now Bison) and Bournemouth Sharks, on Sunday 17 July 1988. The Beavers won the game 27-2 in front of 1,200 spectators. The first ever goal was scored by the Beavers' Don Yewchin after just 10 seconds.

Public Skating

Basingstoke Ice Rink has public skating year round, seven days a week. Disco sessions occur every Friday at 20:00 and birthday parties can be booked for the morning and afternoon sessions all week.

Private Hire

Hiring can be done by contacting the rink directly on a case-by-case basis.

Synchronised Skating

The local club Basingstoke Synchronised Skating Club has 3 Synchronised Skating teams using the rink. Including * Snowstorm * Ice Angels * Ice Age The club is sponsored by Persimmon Homes. The club in conjunction with the figure skating club has won the National Team Challenge inter-rink competition 3 times in 1999, 2004 and 2009.

Figure Skating

The rink hosts top level figure skaters including 2015/16 national champion Danielle Harrison and has 12 coaches including Andrew Place who competed in the 1992 Olympics. There is patch ice for figure skaters every morning. The local club is Basingstoke Ice Skating Club. It has a regular Friday night session. The club in conjunction with the synchro skating club has won the National Team Challenge inter-rink competition 3 times in 1999, 2004 and 2009.

Christmas Show

The rink has a Christmas show each year with a cast of 190 for the 25th annual show in 2013, and a cast of 180 in 2014.

Ice Hockey

The Planet Ice Silverdome Arena is home to the

and Basingstoke Buffalo with 5 Junior teams and a number of recreational teams including * Basingstoke Hyenas http://basingstokehyenas.co.uk/ * Basingstoke Raptors https://www.facebook.com/raptorsicehockeyclub/ * Basingstoke Cougars http://www.cougarsihc.co.uk/ * Basingstoke Barracudas https://twitter.com/cudashockey Along with an active Stick & Puck http://www.sticknpuckbasingstoke.co.uk/

Medium Term Threat

The ice rink is under threat of closure by the operator Planet Ice. There are multiple petitions and an active campaign to maintain the ice rink in Basingstoke.{{Cite web, title ='Waiting game' on short-term future of ice rink, url =http://www.romseyadvertiser.co.uk/news/basingstoke/16095015.waiting-game-on-short-term-future-of-ice-rink/, website = Romsey Advertiser, access-date = 2018-07-05

References

External links

Official site
Ice hockey venues in England Sports venues in Hampshire Sport in Basingstoke Basingstoke Bison