The Soldotna Regional Sports Complex (also referred to as the Soldotna Sports Center) is a 2,000-seat multipurpose
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 ...
located in
Soldotna, Alaska
Soldotna is a city in the Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. At the 2020 census, the population was 4,342, up from 4,163 in 2010. It is the seat of the Kenai Peninsula Borough.
Soldotna is located in the Southcentral port ...
. The arena opened in 1983. In the winter months, the facility is home to several central
Kenai Peninsula
The Kenai Peninsula ( Dena'ina: ''Yaghenen'') is a large peninsula jutting from the coast of Southcentral Alaska. The name Kenai (, ) is derived from the word "Kenaitze" or "Kenaitze Indian Tribe", the name of the Native Athabascan Alaskan tribe ...
high school
A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...
hockey
''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...
teams, fighting competitions and the soldotna figure skating team while in the summer the facility hosts numerous local home builders, sports recreation and trading,
car
A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...
, and snowmachine shows, among other events.
The facility contains an
Olympic
Olympic or Olympics may refer to
Sports
Competitions
* Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896
** Summer Olympic Games
** Winter Olympic Games
* Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...
-sized ice sheet, a 350-seat conference room, a
first aid room
First most commonly refers to:
* First, the ordinal form of the number 1
First or 1st may also refer to:
Acronyms
* Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array
* Far Infrared a ...
,
racquetball
Racquetball is a racquet sport and a team sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek invented the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase vel ...
courts,
locker room
A locker is a small, usually narrow storage compartment. They are commonly found in dedicated cabinets, very often in large numbers, in various public places such as Changing room, locker rooms, workplaces, schools, transport hubs and the like ...
facilities, ice-resurfacing capabilities, an ADA-accessible seating platform, and a snack bar. The Sports Center also houses offices for the City of
Soldotna
Soldotna is a city in the Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. At the 2010 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 4,342, up from 4,163 in 2010. It is the seat of the Kenai Peninsula ...
's Parks and Recreation Department. Since 2007, it has been the home of the Kenai River Brown Bears of the
North American Hockey League
The North American Hockey League (NAHL) is one of the top junior hockey leagues in the United States and is in its 50th season of operation in 2024–25. It is the only Tier II junior league sanctioned by USA Hockey, and acts as an alternati ...
.
History
The building's inaugural event in the fall of 1983 featured an exhibition hockey contest showcasing the United States and Russian national hockey teams. Since 1983, the Sports Center has played host to several other sporting events, including
Harlem Globetrotters
The Harlem Globetrotters is an American Exhibition game, exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, entertainment, and comedy in their style of play. Over the years, they have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 124 ...
and Anchorage Aces games.
Usually billed as "The Showdown in So-Town," The
University of Alaska Anchorage
The University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) is a public university in Anchorage, Alaska, United States. UAA also administers four community campuses spread across Southcentral Alaska: Kenai Peninsula College, Kodiak College, Matanuska–Susitna C ...
Seawolves Division I men's hockey team have played a pair of recent exhibition contests in front of
SRO
SRO may refer to:
* Saudi Railways Organization (SRO)
* School resource officer, a police officer assigned to a school
* Self-regulatory organization
* Senior reactor operator, a supervisory position overseeing the work of the nuclear reactor ope ...
crowds at the Regional Sports Complex – once in 2004 against
Grant MacEwan College
Grant MacEwan University, commonly known as MacEwan University, is a public university located in Downtown Edmonton, Alberta. Originally established as a community college which was named in honor of Dr. Grant MacEwan, 9th Lieutenant Governor of ...
(where UAA won 5-1), and again in 2006 against the
University of Western Ontario
The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...
(where UWO won 3-1).
The facility was a focal point for the 2006 Arctic Winter Games, hosting both opening and closing ceremonies, hockey games at all levels,
figure skating
Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the Figure skating at the 1908 Summer Olympi ...
, and
speed skating
Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long-track speed skating, short-track speed skating, and marathon speed skat ...
. For the Arctic Winter Games, the Regional Sports Complex installed a new
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 ...
, a new four-sided center-hung
scoreboard
A scoreboard is a large board for publicly displaying the score (sport), score in a game. Most levels of sport from high school and above use at least one scoreboard for keeping score, measuring time, and displaying statistics. Scoreboards i ...
, and a new scrolling
marquee
Marquee may refer to:
* Marquee (overhang), a secondary covering attached to the exterior wall of a building
* Marquee (structure), a structure placed over the entrance to a hotel, theater, casino, train station, or similar building.
* Pole marquee ...
outside of the facility.
The facility has also been a focal point for
Alaska
Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
state high school hockey. High school teams from
Soldotna
Soldotna is a city in the Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. At the 2010 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 4,342, up from 4,163 in 2010. It is the seat of the Kenai Peninsula ...
and
Kenai
Kenai (, ; Dena'ina: ; , ''Kenay'') is a city in the Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. By road, it is 158 miles southwest of Anchorage. The population was 7,424 as of the 2020 census, up from 7,100 in 2010,
the fiftee ...
share the ice, and the facility also hosts the Peninsula Ice Classic tournament (also referred to for a short time as the Peninsula Ice Challenge) – showcasing all 4A (large school) teams from the Central Peninsula area, as well as one team from the
Anchorage
Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolita ...
(
Cook Inlet
Cook Inlet (; Sugpiaq language, Sugpiaq: ''Cungaaciq'') stretches from the Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage, Alaska, Anchorage in south-central Alaska. Cook Inlet branches into the Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm at its northern end, almost surrounding ...
Conference) and Fairbanks (Mid-Alaska Conference) areas. The facility was also home to the