On
7 November 2019, the new Central Sports Complex of the Avangard Ice Hockey
Academy was opened in Omsk. Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Siberian
Federal District Sergey Menyaylo, Omsk Region Governor Alexander Burkov, Honorary President of the Russian Olympic Committee and First
Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian
Federation Alexander Zhukov, President of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation
Vladislav Tretiak, and Chairman of the Board at Avangard Club Alexander
Krylov were among the guests of the official opening ceremony. The opening was
part of the cultural agenda of the 16th Russia–Kazakhstan Interregional
Cooperation Forum organised by the Ministry of Economic Development of the
Russian Federation and the Roscongress Foundation.
The Avangard Ice Hockey Academy is a
large-scale interregional social programme run since 2012 based on
Russia’s leading ice hockey club, Avangard (Omsk). The programme aims to
develop youth ice hockey and establish a modern system of training for young
hockey players. It has already covered Siberia, the Urals, and the Moscow
Region, and will be expanded to the national level. Creating world-class
infrastructure to support the training process is a critical element of the
programme, and the new Central Sports Complex in Omsk will become a key
training ground for the Avangard Ice Hockey Academy. The development of the
Sports Complex was sponsored by Gazprom Group, under the Gazprom for Children
programme.
“Sports should be accessible, and our youth
should be able to choose the sports they want to practise. When modern
infrastructure is there, it gives talented children an opportunity to train,
learn, and discover who they want to be. This infrastructure project is
important not only for the Omsk Region but for Siberia in general, since ice
hockey is one of the main sports here. I am confident that the new complex will
become a magnet both for talented athletes and for all hockey fans,” said Sergey
Menyaylo.
“The opening of the Central Sports Complex
of the Avangard Ice Hockey Academy is a true milestone,” said Alexander
Burkov. “For us, the Avangard
hockey team is a regional brand, the face of our region, and it is only
symbolic that today marks the 69th anniversary of our team. Happy anniversary
to all of you. It is very important that Avangard places a special focus on the
development of youth sports schools and training of young hockey players,
because it is the quality of their training that will determine Russia’s
success at international ice hockey championships.”
The Omsk Region Governor also added that
another significant regional event in sports infrastructure development was the
construction of the new ice arena, Omsk Arena. This facility will become the
home rink for the men’s team of Avangard and is seen as a potential venue for
the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship.
A scale model of the new Omsk Arena has
been presented at the 16th Russia–Kazakhstan Interregional Cooperation
Forum. Alexander Krylov commented:
“Today, we present a 3D scale model of our new arena to athletes,
fans, and to all who may be interested in this project. We have already
successfully submitted design documents for state approval and we hope to
obtain it by the end of the year. We plan to start construction in late spring
as we have set a goal to provide Avangard with a new home arena by the
beginning of the 2022/2023 season, and we are committed to this goal.”
As part of the opening event for the sports
complex, a warm-up game between minor ice hockey teams took place at the new
rink: a team of 10-year-olds representing Avangard (Omsk) welcomed their peers
from Barys (Kazakhstan). The ceremonial first puck was dropped by Alexander
Krylov and Vladislav Tretiak.
Avangard won the warm-up game 3:0.
Leonid Onishchuk scored two goals, and Artyom Kislyak scored the third goal.
The leaders of the Avangard Ice Hockey Academy expressed their appreciation to
the young hockey players of both teams for having shown courage and the will to
win. They also noted that close links between Russia and Kazakhstan’s hockey
clubs promote stronger interregional cooperation in sports, tourism, and youth
policy.
The Central Sports Complex of the Avangard
Ice Hockey Academy in Omsk was commissioned in the second half of 2019 and
comprises a 1,200-seat Ice Palace with two arenas – the main arena
designed to the standards of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF)
and the practice arena. The complex also has a medical centre, seven athletic
training rooms, a gym, and a press room. The Ice Palace is connected via a
heated tunnel to the campus accommodating 160 out-of-town students, which,
apart from dormitories, also has classrooms, a canteen, and a recreational
facility.
