Love for Skating Starts Locally

By Amy Hughes

We moved to Great Neck in 1982, and my husband John, a Canadian hockey player, discovered the town’s Parkwood sports complex, specifically the rink in that complex, in short order. We put our oldest daughter Rebecca on the ice that season and John started playing in adult leagues. One by one, each of our six kids and four grandkids learned to skate at the Parkwood ice rink. Since 1982, someone from our family has skated on that rink in the Parkwood Sports Complex every season consistently, from the hockey leagues to the figure skating programs. Currently, my 17-year old granddaughter Alexandra skates on the freestyle sessions there before school.

We were so lucky to have had that kind of access to sporting facilities. Though some of my kids became elite figure skaters and hockey players and traveled to many rinks, their time at the Parkwood complex with their friends remain some of their best memories. Right across the street from the middle school, the kids would just walk over to Parkwood. John called it “backyard play” because growing up in Canada, there were so many backyard rinks where kids would play pick-up hockey after school. No referees, no supervision – just play. The Great Neck Park District gave our family that, and continues to give. What did one of my granddaughters want to do for her 11th birthday in February 2022? A party with her friends at the Great Neck rink, now called the Andrew Stergiopoulis Rink. Charlotte is a travel hockey goalie who, of course, also started figure skating and then playing hockey at that rink. Her party was a family affair as it usually is, with various members of the Hughes family lacing up, including my sons David and Matt, former college hockey players who like to test Charlotte’s skills between the pipes. The Great Neck rink is home to us. Over the years, my daughters Sarah and Emily have skated with their nieces in Skate School performances. They hosted the rink’s 50th Anniversary celebration and have participated in Great Neck’s wonderful therapeutic skating program. My youngest daughter Taylor, and Rebecca, have taught skate school classes, helping the youngest kids experience the joy of skating. World and Olympic judges came to Great Neck to evaluate Emily and Sarah as they made her way up the figure skating ranks. When each went to the Olympics – Sarah in 2002 and Emily in 2006 - they enjoyed an outpouring of support from the community, with watch parties for their performances and celebrations when they returned. The facility has improved over the years, with more and more amenities and an expanded schedule, providing even more value to our town. The Great Neck Park District is a jewel of the community, and for us, the rink is the center stone. Physical fitness, community building, fun – you can find it at our local rink.

John Hughes with his granddaughter Charlotte Sisters Sarah and Emily Hughes Sarah and Emily Hughes (back row) with Charlotte and Alexandra Parker (front row)

1 ‘Total

freedom’ 2

Kids thriving in Great Neck Therapeutic Skate Program

Like so many other ice rinks, the rink managed by the Great Neck Parks District, which is located on Long Island in Great Neck, New York, is a spacious facility and the kids there love hearing the sound of their own voices echo.

They joyously holler and scream the moment their skates touch the ice.

As they skate throughout a two-hour session each month, laughter fills the facility.

It’s a moment that brings a smile to Cindy Zubli each and every month when she hosts the Therapeutic Skate Program. In 2012, Zubli, a special needs educator in Great Neck, combined her professional interest as a teacher assistant with the school district — she helps to acclimate special needs students with life skills in the community — with her personal passion: figure skating.

“It’s like a total freedom with them,” said Zubli, who is the president of the Great Neck Figure Skating Club, “They’re like, ‘Look Mrs. Z. Look Mrs. Z. Look what I can do’ and they’re off.”

Zubli works at Great Neck North. It’s the same high school Olympic gold medalist Sarah Hughes graduated from prior to the 2002 Olympic Games.

Hughes is a regular at the Therapeutic Skate Program.

She’s more than a high-profile advocate. Hughes is wildly popular among all the kids who participate in the program.

“She’s amazing out there with them,” Zubli said. She has so much patience and when they hear Sarah is coming they get all excited.”

Most of the children cannot skate without assistance or the aide of an on-ice walker and, ac cording to Zubli, they love watching Sarah skate in circles. They especially love when the 29-yearold hometown hero takes them by the hands and literally pulls them in circles around the center of the rink.

The program has grown in each of the past three years.

1. Emily and Sarah Hughes 2.Sarah Hughes with her nieces 3. Emiliy and Sarah Hughes 4.Sarah Hughes performing 5. Sarah (front row, far right) and

Great Neck Therapeutic Skate

Program participants 3

Participants in the Great Neck Therapeutic Skating Program have a ball every time they take the ice.