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Need <br />Indoor icc time Is becoming t prccions commodity.Overview <br />For years, area ice arenas sold time to one or two local youth hockey '■ ' socta* <br />tions and a high school hockey program, and filled in houn with coimnuniiy <br />skating classes, figure skating and men's leagues. Demand for ice time grew, <br />but only with growth in community populations, and could be handled first by <br />increasing the use of off-prime bows and ultimately by the addition of a sec­ <br />ond ice sheet <br />Suddenly, though, the stability of this supply and situation has been shaken, <br />and for several good reasons: <br />• Girls hockey has arrived, and its growth is eiplosive <br />Including Orooo's teams, there will be 35 Squirt girls hockey teams <br />in the metropolitan area this year; <br />■ There were less than 20 last year. <br />The State High School League has sanctioned the sport for state <br />tournament play. <br />The growth and exposure of women's hockey at the college and <br />Olympic level will further spur interest in hockey as a girls' team <br />sport. <br />• Interest in figure skating—particularly for girls—has Jumped, due <br />in part to the extensive coverage of the 1994 U.S. Women's Olympic <br />team. <br />Figure skating clubs have waiting lists and are facing more presswe <br />on their already early ice times. <br />• Development of ice sports and activities for disabled people is <br />underway, and equal access to indoor ice should come with that use. <br />Evidence of this supply/demand mismatch is everywhere, in sold-out arenas, <br />use of terribly early and late hours, and sharp ice time fee increases. <br />Orono Ice Arena