Blades on borrowed ice: The fight to keep skating alive in the Philippines

Compared to other countries, the Philippines’ ice sports facilities are limited in number and features. With three permanent rinks in Metro Manila and one in Cebu City, geography limits many Filipinos from even seeing their potential in the sport. In addition, these rinks are inside malls that cater to the casual public, forcing competitive athletes to share ice time and limiting the moves they can practice.

“Usually, pro skaters would train in the morning or afternoon on weekdays so there would be fewer people… We need the full rink to be able to practice our jumps and speed skating,” shares Skye Chua, professional figure skater.

Apart from the rink itself, professional athletes also spend plenty of time off the ice to train and condition their core strength. “Miss Nikki [Cheng] would always talk about how many people want to try figure skating but unfortunately there’s not enough ice to go around,” says Isabella Gamez, professional Filipino pair figure skater.

While it’s easy to identify the barriers to making ice skating more accessible, building and maintaining an ice rink is very expensive.

“While the rinks at SM attract many visitors, few realise the immense capital expenditure and operational costs involved,” says Nikki Cheng, president of the Philippine Skating Union (PSU). “The Philippines has some of the highest electricity rates globally, and maintaining an ice rink requires running a 1,800-square-metre freezer 24/7. Research studies have shown that many rinks operate at a loss, and in most cases, only state-funded or subsidized rinks are able to sustain long-term operations.”

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Thankfully, Filipino athletes who are looking to go pro are backed by the Philippine Skating Union, a non-profit organisation that oversees the rules, standards, development, and promotion of ice sports in the country.

“The PSU are the ones who gave us more ice time to train. They also have these ‘team trainings’ where they bring in coaches from abroad or sometimes even send us overseas,” says Chua. 

The ice sports community is a tightly-knit circle, consisting of athletes from hockey, speed skating, and figure skating. As a niche sport in the country, almost everyone knows each other and relies on camaraderie to thrive and grow.

“We’re all very close,” says Gamez. “Whenever Aleksander and I would come to the Philippines to teach, we would always meet new skaters. We’d also see the previous skaters that we’ve taught move up to different levels and they’d proudly tell us how far they’ve come… We all have a common love for skating and that’s something we want to share.”

If you’re looking to get into ice skating casually, it’s as easy as heading to any of the rinks. Chua highly recommends starting with getting the right skates. Too small and your feet may bruise; too big and you’ll have difficulty doing even the simplest manoeuvres. Upon putting on your skates, you’re free to make your first few steps on ice—even without a coach. It may seem intimidating or scary, but experience is the best teacher.

“You need to let go of the railing and not be afraid to fall. Though a lot of people want to start skating as soon as they get on the ice, if you’re new to it, you have to start by practising how to march on ice. Once you have that down, you can start practising gliding,” says Chua.

Apart from its main rinks, SM regularly holds seasonal pop-up rinks in its provincial malls using synthetic ice to spark interest in the public—potentially allowing aspiring skaters to find their calling.

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Ice sports, while generally accessible to the public for casual fun, need more room to grow. The Philippines is certainly capable of producing elite skaters. We’ve seen it with Michael Martinez who represented the Philippines at the 2014 Winter Olympics and Isabella Gamez and Aleksandr Korovin who consistently compete internationally under our banner, but to truly flourish, Cheng believes that great strides need to be made.

“It’s promising but still developing. There is a growing interest in the sport and achievements on the international stage have brought attention to Filipino skaters. However, significant challenges remain, in terms of accessibility, infrastructure, and funding,” she says.

Though ice skating in the Philippines still needs time to reach its full potential, Cheng, Chua, and Gamez urge budding skaters to never lose sight of their goal. “Figure skating is a challenging sport, but your passion and perseverance will take you far. Seek out mentors, take advantage of every training opportunity, and never stop believing in your potential,” says Cheng.

“Never give up. It takes a lot of work and mental, so always be disciplined,” says Chua.

“Just try it and don’t be afraid to fall. Everybody falls but that’s life—we get up,” says Gamez.

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