Lukas: Ice skating in Örebro (with the help of Fritidsbanken)
All students need a break from studying every now and then. Especially during the Swedish winter months, when sunlight is scarce and the days are spent mostly inside, it’s important to incorporate some leisurely play into your life. One possibility of doing just that is by going ice skating at Örebro’s central sports stadium Behrn Arena. Indoors. In the cold. Maybe even by yourself if you so please.
Read more about Fritidsbanken in Örebro and find their adress and opening hours here.
Despite some of these seemingly counterintuitive characteristics, ice skating is actually a great pastime that will not only offer you a way to get out and be active, but further allows you to experience Sweden’s essence. Hockey is the national sport, after all (it’s actually not officially but everybody here chooses to ignore that and loves hockey instead). And the best thing is yet to be said about ice skating: it’s free!
Here follows a short guide to get you started: The Swedes may not be social in person, but in spirit they very much are. And precisely due to this trait, they decided to start an organization called Fritidsbanken in 2013.
Fritidsbanken has locations throughout the country and lets you borrow a wide variety of free time and outdoor equipment, such as ice skates and helmets. They come in practically all sizes, so anybody should be able to find a nicely-fitting pair for themselves. Fritidsbanken additionally does not require you to have a personal number in order to borrow equipment. Just your name and email address. Their address in Örebro is Lertagsgatan 1B (tip: check their opening hours before going).
Now that you’re all set, the only thing left to do is to head over to Behrn Arena and give it a go. Address: Restalundsvägen 10. There is a little caveat, however, so please don’t feel tricked: you won’t actually be able to skate inside the competitive hockey rink. Behrn Arena has a bandy hall that’s open to the public at certain hours. Bandy is another type of hockey sport on ice, something we won’t get into now, but the point is that their hall is quite large, giving you plenty of room to skate around.
And for those who are very confident in their lack of skills (me included), you can freely use support racks to help you practice without falling. And no, those are not only for children! I personally managed to learn to skate freely in just a few sessions, so if I can do it, so can you!
Text: Lukas Dekker