14 December 2009 - Official naming of the Henke Rink

The Icehouse is pleased to announce that Rink 1 is named the Henke Rink, in honour of Geoffrey Henke AO and in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the promotion and development of winter sports in Australia.

Henke is an instrumental figure behind the development of the Icehouse. He began his lifelong involvement in ice and snow sports as a member of the Victorian Ice Hockey team in the 1950's.

After a distinguished playing career, he moved to sports administration, rising to become the President of the Australian Ski Federation, Chef de Mission of the Australian Olympic Winter Games team for a record six times (1976-1994). He was also an International Ski Federation (FIS) Council member for 14 years as well as Australia's first (FIS) Executive Board Member, and was made a life member in 2008.

Henke was an Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) Executive member from 1985 to 2001, attaining the position of Senior Vice President. He was recognised with AOC life membership and awarded the Olympic Order by the International Olympic Committee in 2000.

In 1998, Henke became the foundation Chairman of the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia. In a nation focused on summer sport, Henke has worked tirelessly to grow an Australian winter sports culture that has led to Olympic medals, World Championships and World Cup glory.