For the second winter in a row, the number of hockey clubs in Belgium benefitting from an RSI SPORTS airdome, has gone up. The affordability, comfort and ease of installation of these domes enables these clubs to continue hosting members and to generate additional income, at a time of the year when everything else is down.
Hockey is booming, and particularly in Belgium. Since 2008, the sport has experienced an approximately 8% growth per annum. With over a third of the active players being younger than 35 years old, clubs know full well the importance of both facilitating and pleasing their constituency. If not, they stand a chance of losing them to other activities or hobbies and losing them forever. “We started off with three teams five years ago. This year, we will have 18 teams playing league games in an indoor competition, and I envision we can grow to 22 or 23 teams next winter,” says Jacko Verheijen of HC Lokeren. Since early November, the club has had an RSI SPORTS airdome at its own site. Their dependence on public facilities to facilitate indoor hockey was the biggest hindrance to grow the sport, he explains. “It would take a 20-minute drive by car to get the nearest indoor venue. Many of our members viewed this as too far or inconvenient to continue playing during wintertime.” Youth in Belgium usually get around on bicycles, but a distance it takes a car 20 minutes to cover is usually considered to be way too far to cycle. Verheijen also points to the shared-use principle that is common for public venues in Europe. Particularly during winter, such a venue would be way too popular. “This limited our opportunity for growth, as it was dictated by the availability of additional timeslots, something that was seldom possible.”
The situation is not unique to HC Lokeren. HC Blackbirds is another club that invested in an RSI SPORTS airdome. “It is the most cost-effective option for having your own venue,” treasures Sven Moresi points out. “The alternative would have been a tent with a frame to span the distance. The erection and dismantling of such a tent requires a team of skilled professionals. Furthermore, the insulation capacity of such a tent is much lower, hence you’ll also be spending more on heating to provide a comfortable indoor temperature.” He concluded that the total-cost of ownership of an RSI SPORTS airdome is superior “especially in light of the grant the government has made available whereby, we, as a club, will only have to carry a third of the investment cost.”
