Where I grew up in Minnesota, backyard ice rinks were a fine tradition. Not everyone had a backyard ice rink, because not everyone needed one. If you were just simply into ice figure skating, you would go down to the local lake. All winter, the lake would be frozen, and people from all over the city would go there after work or after school. Kids would skate with their parents, going round and round until they got tired or cold. Then they would go home for hot chocolate, have some dinner, and start on their schoolwork.
Backyard ice rinks were about something else altogether. Basically, having a backyard ice rink only had one purpose: ice hockey. You needed an ice hockey rink to play the game. It wasn't that the ice wasn't smooth enough on the regular lake to play. It was just that there were too many people there already. The ice skating lake was the big municipal gathering ground in the winter. You couldn't have a game of ice hockey on it – you would hit your grandmother with the puck.
I remember when me and my dad built our first backyard skating rink together. I had been asking for backyard ice rinks for years, but my dad had been seemed to be deaf to my pleading. Every year, he had told me the same thing: you are too young. Finally, when I was 13, he decided I was ready. I didn't know this, but backyard ice rinks were a tradition in my family. My father, my grandfather, and my great-grandfather all built their first backyard ice rink when they were 13. Before that, backyard ice rinks were viewed as too dangerous. When you were 13, however, you are seen as old enough to ice skate without supervision.
I played many ice hockey games on that rink. Backyard ice rinks, once they were built, became great places of social activity. Unlike the lake where everyone would hang out, backyard ice rinks were where guys would go when we felt like some friendly competition. I would play with my friends, my family, and even strangers from the neighborhood. Some of the girls even came to the backyard ice rinks to watch us play, and it was a great opportunity for us boys to try to show off. The winters were long there, but we were smart people. We found ways to make them fun.
