SOUTH March 2021

‘BLADE RUNNERS’

show their metal

Forty six years ago Ruawai farmers, Ross and Nell Blong swapped dairying in the country for ice skating in the city. They didn’t know then that a yen to do something different would turn into a long-standing family business. HELEN PERRY talked to the second generation owners about ongoing plans for Paradice Entertainment, the only place in east/south Auckland where one can ‘chill out’ on ice. Paradice Ice Skating rink in Botany is likely to arouse warm memories with visitors even if their fun experiences were often ‘frosty’. It’s been the North Island home of many a competitive skater, the Ice Blacks (men’s national ice hockey team), the Ice Fernz (women’s national ice hockey team), the women’s Black Ice Synchro team and international figure skating reps as well as a place of entertainment for thousands of youngsters and their parents. However, the Paradice rink of yesteryear has evolved into a much larger concern thanks to the vision of second generation owners, Chris Blong and his sister, Rosie (Rosanna) Armstrong who are supported by the wider family. “It was my parents who started the

whole thing. They bought the Glen Innes rink in 1974 and before long they were totally immersed in ice skating,” says Chris who, as result, was skating at five years old and taking lessons from the age of nine. His sister Rosie and brother Darren followed on his heels. “It was inevitable that we would take to the ice,” Chris says. “It was great fun and, although I was fairly wobbly when starting out on skates with a wooden sole, I loved it and, actually, it took only a few hours to learn to stay upright. “There were lots of falls but we were always trying to push the limits. We kids might have swapped grass paddocks for an ice rink but we thought skating rink was a lot more exciting.”

From the outset it could be said the siblings never looked back. By the time Chris was 13 he was representing New Zealand in figure skating, competing in Australia for the first time. “Because mum and dad worked at the rink, we were always there, too. For three to four years we just skated casually in the sessions. There were ice sports too but not as organised as they are today.” Competing in his first figure skating competition at age 10, Chris progressed through to junior world championships, senior internationals and then senior world champs. At 19 he was looking well beyond our shores and from then, until he was 23, he spent several stints in Ottawa and Edmonton, Canada.

“At that stage I was looking at a very high-level training environment which was good enough to get me to the world champs,” he says. “Naturally, there were many highlights including multiple New Zealand titles and competing at international competitions all over the world. “But then there was a real low point when I was unable to compete at the 1991 Worlds in Munich due to illness. That was pretty devastating.” Achieving on ice has also been a given for Rosie, who is an accomplished coach. “I started skating at four years old because it was fun but after taking lessons from seven years, I soon found I enjoyed performing at competitions, events and ice

COLD POWER FAMILY AFFAIR While Chris Blong and sister, Rosie Armstrong aren’t sitting on ice when it comes to the future of Paradice Entertainment, brother Darren Blong is hardly out in the cold.

Although Darren and his wife, Marina, own a sports retail company selling skating/hockey and softball/baseball equipment, Darren still devotes massive energy to coaching ice hockey.

also followed in the family’s ice skating tradition. Last year, at just 14, she won an ice hockey team gold at the Youth Olympics in Lucerne, Switzerland, the first Kiwi to do so.

After he and Chris both represented New Zealand playing for the Ice Blacks, he has continued to contribute to ice hockey nationally and internationally. “Darren represented New Zealand for 14 years, 10 as team captain,” Chris says. “As a result of his achievements, he is in the International Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Canada. That’s quite something!”

He develops programmes for grass roots ice hockey right through to national representatives and co-ordinates ice hockey development camps around the country. He also mentors coaches from around New Zealand in the capacity of the New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation’s national coaching co-ordinator.

“Katya trains at Paradice but was in her second year of high school at the Ontario Hockey Academy in Canada before Covid changed things and she returned to New Zealand,” Chris explains.

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His daughter, Katya, now 15, has

“The whole family is extremely proud of her achievements, especially mum and dad, who, although retired, still turn up at the rink to help whenever needed.” www.southmagazine.co.nz