2023 Year in Review - Dobson Arena - Vail Recreation District

2023 Year in Review - Dobson Arena

In 2023, we had another year of high participation numbers in Dobson Ice Arena programs, as hockey and ice skating continue to be very popular in Eagle County and beyond.

Our team did a great job despite facing an aging building with a high volume and high cost of repairs. We also faced staffing challenges in 2023, which meant that our existing employees needed to work more to make sure our users had the same opportunities as normal and programming was not disrupted.

Along with our regular hockey and skating programming, we continued to host big events including Vail Yeti games (20 games with an average of 920 attendees), five Hispanic concerts with 5,000+ attendees, and over 800 guests for Project Funway.

Jared Biniecki, Director of Dobson Arena, has been working tirelessly with VRD leadership, the Town of Vail and contracted companies on plans for renovating the arena as well as finding a home for skaters while Dobson is under renovation.

We hosted another successful and sold out year of Bob Johnson Hockey Camp with 108 total participants.

An event setup with a stage, tables, chairs, and a draped canopy structure.

In February, Dobson Arena transformed into a disco-themed event venue for a corporate group that hosted 400+ guests.

A happy women's hockey team posing on the ice in yellow jerseys.

Our summer hockey league had 23 teams with four divisions (A, C, coed and women's) with a total of 322 total players. Pictured here are the summer league champs, the Yellowjackets a.k.a Stingers! Additionally, our winter hockey league had 12 teams with two divisions (upper & C).

Dobson Arena with an MMA cage, seating, lights, and international flags on the ceiling.

Dobson Arena hosted another successful MMA Fight Night in October.

Eddie Shipstead's Vail Ice Show, starring Nathan Chen, has proven to be an incredibly popular event at Dobson Arena.

MORE NUMBERS:

Vail Mountaineers Hockey Club: 260 players
Battle Mountain High School: 45 players
Skating Club of Vail: 26 skaters
Learn to Skate: 68 participants
U6 Hockey: 49 participants
U8 Hockey: 60 participants
Rec Hockey + Intro to Girls Hockey (older than U8): 26 participants

Total Youth Skaters: 534

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