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Daniel Armstrong used to ice-skate while growing up in Hopkinton but abandoned the activity as he got older. Now married, and with a 5-year-old daughter, Armstrong is considering lacing up his skates again since his daughter recently started skating lessons.
"We're so busy as a family trying to pay the bills and such we forget about this," said Armstrong, who now lives in Holliston. "I didn't realize how much fun it would be but it is." Armstrong, who takes his daughter, Kelsey, to New England Sports Center in Marlborough every Sunday for skating lessons, said he worried at first how she would adapt to skating.
"I was actually apprehensive about it," Armstrong said, but "she's taken to it and I'm glad it gives her something to look forward to instead of sitting in the house."
Armstrong said his daughter's newfound love of ice-skating can be largely attributed to her instructor, Debbie Hogan, a Holliston resident who has taught hundreds of children over the past 15 years, at first as a volunteer and now for a small fee.
Hogan, 48, who competed in figure-skating events as a youth in Fargo, N.D., and played numerous sports in high school, said she teaches "because it's that satisfying. Those kids gave me more than I could ever give them back."
She first looked into skating instruction when her son started playing hockey and she realized he and his teammates were not being taught proper skating techniques.
"I saw him play his first hockey game and I was like, 'If they can't skate, how can they play hockey?' " Hogan said.
The secret to her success as an instructor is ensuring the children have a good time, especially their first time on the ice, she said.
"We try to be very enthusiastic and have some fun," Hogan said. "If they're having fun, they'll want to come back. If they come back, they'll learn to skate."
That supportive, noncompetitive atmosphere is something Armstrong appreciates, he said.
"The skating focuses on encouragement," Armstrong said. "It's been a positive thing for her."
At first, Hogan - who teaches hockey players as old as high school in addition to beginner skating classes - has each new child sit down, crawl, and play games on the ice to become acclimated with the unique surface.
Students progress at different paces, Hogan said, and noted that parents should not become frustrated if their child struggles in one aspect because they will likely excel at another skill.
"There's lots of kids that don't get it right away," she said. "Kids all have different personalities and attack problems in different ways. What you want to try to do is be patient with them and have fun."
Generally, it takes three to six months to learn the basics and seven to 10 years to become a good skater, Hogan said, although families can start enjoying time on the ice soon after starting lessons.
At Veterans Memorial Rink in Waltham, open recreation skating began for the season last month and will run through mid-March, as long as there is demand, said Nick Abruzzi, the rink's manager and assistant director of Waltham's Recreation Department.
"Public skating is nice because it's a purely recreational activity," Abruzzi said "There's not a lot of competitiveness like in other programs. It gets people going and in the mood for the holiday season."
At North Star Youth Forum in Westborough, Learn-to-Skate director Jessica Meller said her program is a hit with the 140 students enrolled this year.
"I think people are really excited about ice," said Meller, whose resume includes a stint skating with Disney on Ice. "It's something that's only here once a year and people love that feeling. We walk and run and that's it. When you get on the ice you are doing something special."
North Star's program teaches students ages 3 to adult how to skate, Meller said, noting that 90 percent of her pupils take lessons to be able to skate recreationally rather than figure skate or play hockey.
"It's fun to watch them," Meller said. "The simplest thing, from just pushing off and gliding from one end of the rink to the other, is so exciting. They can do it for 25 minutes and not be bored."
North Star, a nonprofit organization, is holding an open house with free skating lessons and a figure-skating show on Jan. 3, Meller said.
For those who do pursue hockey or figure skating, Hogan noted what used to be a strong divide between the sports is closing as coaches realize their players need the same basic skills to excel. Hogan takes many of her hockey students to figure-skating coaches to improve their skating ability.
"There's a huge appreciation being developed among these kids," she said. "They're kind of bringing it together and ultimately going to the same goal - to become a better skater."
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