Zamboni Policy

Any Youth Association Adult (18 and older) is eligible to volunteer as a Zamboni driver. Zamboni drivers are needed to cover practice ice and game day ice. Volunteer hours can be earned for large events, for example, Ultimate Hockey Tournaments and State Tournament hosting.

SPYHA drivers are responsible to report any maintenance or safety issues/incidents to the SPYHA Zamboni Scheduler as soon as an issue has been identified.

With the exception of formal Zamboni Training, only one operator is allowed on the Zamboni during operation (no passengers.)

Each youth hockey team and adult league will be responsible to provide drivers for practice and games. Zamboni driver training is required.

Sauk Prairie High School Teams will be responsible to provide drivers for High School practices and games. High School drivers will follow SPYHA Training Policies and Procedures but will be responsible for administering a separate schedule.

Only drivers trained and certified by SPYHA Staff are permitted to operate the SPYHA Zamboni. Training will be scheduled and conducted by approved SPYHA Training Staff, with the coordination of the SPYHA Zamboni Scheduler. Volunteers will be trained via the formal Zamboni Training Program to a high level of proficiency and safety. The Training Program typically requires four to five sessions of supervised training (these training sessions count towards annual volunteer requirements).

Additional training will be scheduled at the request of a volunteer or if a situation occurs requiring corrective training (i.e. safety incident.)

SPYHA uses the volunteer portal for large events, for example Ultimate Hockey Tournaments and State Tournaments, all other Zamboni scheduling will be coordinated through the team manager. These events are practice and team games, and these events do not count towards volunteer time.

Only large events requiring a resurfacing will be posted on the schedule. Times listed on the schedule indicate the time the event begins (or rather when the ice should be completed and the Zamboni doors closed.) Drivers should expect to begin resurfacing 15 minutes prior to the times listed on the schedule. Each completed sheet of ice U12 and below fulfill 30 minutes of volunteer time. U14 events or any other events that require ice resurfacing between the 2nd and 3rd period will fulfill 1 hour of volunteer time.

Drivers are responsible to notify the Volunteer Coordinator if unable to accomplish a previously scheduled Zamboni event:

If the event is one week or more in the future – Driver will remove his/her name from the schedule and notify the Volunteer Coordinator.

If less than seven days in future – Driver is responsible to find a replacement volunteer and notify the Volunteer Coordinator of the change.

Occasionally, Zamboni or rink maintenance requires SPYHA Staff to conduct a resurfacing outside of the normal scheduling process. If a driver is not notified and reports to the SPARC for a scheduled event to find the ice has been resurfaced, that driver will still receive all credits owed.