Ice Sports Tasmania pushes for new rink to grow future skaters, curlers, hockey players

About 30 years ago Kim Wilson noticed a 2-for-1 ice skating deal on a shopper docket, and sick of the gym and swimming she gave it a go.

«It took me two sessions to get hooked,» said Ms Wilson, who was 27 years old at the time.

«I liked it because as a sport it was so different, and you're constantly learning and developing your skills.

»I know people who take it up in their 50s and 60s. It's not just for kids."

Now the head of sport and athlete development with Ice Skating Australia, Ms Wilson is part of a new group lobbying to secure the future of ice sports in Tasmania.

The state's only ice rink has been for sale for more than a year and is yet to find a buyer to continue operating.

Its closure would make Tasmania the only state or territory without an ice rink, leaving more than 200 athletes without a training base and recreational use.

«When you lose a facility like that you lose people from the sport and you lose a community,» Ms Wilson said.

The newly formed peak body Ice Sports Tasmania today launched the emotive film Little Rink, Big Dreams to bolster the plight of ice sports.

It features the stories of young athletes in Tasmania, like figure skaters Nicole Mikoda and Kimberly Gentile.

Nicole said she has dreams to compete on the mainland.

«If I were to lose [the rink] all those dreams would be out,» she said.

Similarly for Kimberly, who said ice skating was a part of who she was.

«If we were to lose the rink it would mean losing my sport, my other life,» she said.

Ice Sport Tasmania president Anna Holliday said her family fell in love with the Hobart ice sports community.

«It's extremely inclusive and supportive,» Ms Holliday said.

A battle to save a Tasmania's only ice rink has ramped up with a celebrity of the sport drafted