Brewster Ice Arena — Local services in Town of Southeast

I’ve waited over 2 years for things to change at BIA before writing this. It’s unfortunate because this place has great potential. Every inch is filthy. The bathrooms upstairs and downstairs are always horrendous. The pre-teen staff in the main office is unaware of anything at all, they can never help you with even the simplest of questions and are not knowledgeable in answering any team inquiry of any magnitude. There is rarely an adult even present. How is that safe or okay?

This facility has no ice packs for injuries. They give you freezer burned “ice” in a paper towel (if you are lucky enough to locate a staff member) if there is an injury. No one wears a BIA employee shirt, or name tag.

The “ice” upstairs is, and always has been absolute trash. The edges are uneven and it’s rarely cleaned. There are not even color lines cut into it to teach the students how to actually PLAY hockey according to the rules.

The parking is awful. The actual parking spaces are not wide enough. Players (and drivers of players) seem to think the handicapped spots are their own personal drop off/pickup spaces, which is just wonderful for the ACTUAL handicapped spectators who have to sit there, blocking traffic to wait for their designated space to free up.

The metal bleachers downstairs have not been cleaned in ages. They are all sticky.

And if you managed to look past all of that, the head coaching staff absolutely does not care at all about the careless way the teams are run and scheduled. Unless it’s their main travel team, please do not expect any type of professionalism or quality leadership. They take your money and that is all they care about. Several of the kids coaches are phenomenal, so this is not about them. The younger coaches and the paying students deserve to have the equipment they need to PROPERLY learn, teach and succeed. This place does not to seem to have one ounce of maintenance and it’s really disappointing for the kids and coaches — to have to “just manage” with zero tools on hand for success after paying...

Brewster ice arena staff are extremely unprofessional, greedy and have the worst communication I have ever experienced by a youth sports organization.

This past spring, my 9 year old decided she wanted to play travel ice hockey. If you aren't aware, that will cost you an absurd $2500 just to simply join the team and play in the disgusting facility. Please bring hand sanitizer with you!!

In May, I paid $165 for my daughter to "try out" for team. (Nobody is cut from the team) Shortly after, I placed a $500 deposit down for my daughter's roster spot on the upcoming season beginning in September.

In the interim, my lovely child decided she no longer wanted to play hockey. Although I was very unhappy with her decision and irresponsibility, I was definitely glad she told me before I paid the additional $2000.

I immediately emailed the "travel manager" at Brewster Ice Arena in early June regarding her decision and humbly asking for a refund. He said the following:

"The $165 tryout fee would not be refunded- that pays for participation in tryouts, which have already occurred. As a general rule, all sales are final and your contract is binding- however, we're obviously not looking to punish parents because their children are children!

If * remains uninterested in Hockey come August please let me know, and I'll see what I can do for reimbursement on the $500 of tuition."

Since then, I have emailed and called the "travel manager" a half dozen times. He has not returned a single email or phone call. Apparently they really are looking to punish parents!

My daughter's roster spot was filled the day after I sent my initial email. I can't think of a reason in the world that they cannot refund my $500 deposit for a season my child will never participate in. At the very least, an email with some absurd excuse as why they won't refund my money would be much appreciated. Just completely ignoring me...

UPDATE** Things have gotten much better with the office staff at the rink! Everyone seems like be enjoying their jobs and smiling more. There are updated rate postings and communication seems to be smoother. There's a few employees who we have recently meet who a really stand out, (Simone being one of them). There seems to be some confusion with scheduling but it happens from time to time.

Summer 2021 - 1 Start Review for office NOT coaches!!! I am shocked at the way my sitter got treated today when bringing my son for a lesson. The girl at the counter was extremely rude to my sitter because she had no idea about the $15 ice rink fee. And to be clear, it was my mistake. I should have sent her with the money. I just didn't think of it trying to get three kids ready for the day and myself ready for work. BUT... I have been doing lessons for years now and didn't realize you had to pay the rink first. (I assumed the coaches set up their fee with the rink individually. I hope these coaches trying to make a living don't get charged again because that seems like it would be double dipping to me. And to be honest I just now realized, new letter size "printed notices” have been posted on the doors.) Anyway, all I had to do was call and pay over the phone, so I did. Well I gave her some feedback about her customer service, and she started arguing with me. Either I’m getting old by saying the younger generation just has no manners or...