JOHNSON CITY, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH) – The House of Sport has officially entered its Winter season with its soft opening of an outdoor ice rink under the lights.

Just two weeks ago, teams were practicing out on the turf field, but now, the space has been transformed into an ice rink.

The rink is a little bit bigger than half the size of a professional hockey rink, making it the perfect size for a 3-on-3 hockey tournament that will start in the coming weeks.

The executive director of the store, Steven Franklin says that it takes a full week to freeze the ice one layer at a time. He says that the House of Sport will hold an official ribbon cutting and grand opening of the rink this Saturday at 10 a.m.

“You can do everything from first time skating, we’ll have trainers here. First time skating to, if you’re advanced and you want to play in a hockey league we’re going to have, like I mentioned before, skills and drills that we will have here for hockey. So, really for the community It gives them an opportunity of a place to go, you don’t have to travel outside of the city,” said Franklin.

Franklin says that the space will be available for open skate starting next week every Thursday through Sunday. Thursdays and Fridays, open skate runs from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturdays from noon to 8 and Sundays from noon to 7.

Franklin says that open skate costs $10 and that you can bring your own skates or rent from the store.

To see all of the upcoming events at the ice rink, visit dickssportinggoods.com.