FROM THE MID-1970s, you could only find them at Iceland Ringwood in Melbourne with their six year-old son. In those years, Iceland supported two in-house U16 teams, the Flyers coached by Bob Motteram and the Raiders coached by Basil Hanson. Games were at lunchtime, but the Rintels returned in the evening for senior games, Peter commentating and Liz scoring. Peter did not play ice hockey, but he developed related knowledge and skill by coaching junior and senior baseball.

Liz was a figure skater who represented Victoria and later coached the sport in Ballarat. On her return to Melbourne, she became a national judge of figure skating. Pete built a flying harness to help figure skaters to learn double jumps without the fear of crashing to the ice each time. "One of the greatest compliments I had paid to me was by Kathy Gorham, the great Australian Prima ballerina," recalls Liz. Gorham ran off-ice exercises for elite skaters at Ringwood, including Cameron Medhurst who represented Australia at Worlds and Olympics. "Kathy said to me that I looked just like the youngsters when I fell. I was in my thirties when I started with a Mother's group and one of the coaches, Wayne Caldwell, took an interest and there the tale began".

Liz noticed many local ice hockey players lacked basic skating skills, and so she helped teach them in the belief that a player should first be a competent skater. She also helped with the summer skating clinics and minor hockey week held at the rink. Ringwood Juniors evolved into four age groups and inter-rink games.

Peter gradually increased his involvement managing club teams and became a Club representative to the Victorian association. Liz's training of young players led to the Development Council, and then to State association secretary. There she completed the Association's incorporation, helped secure insurance for players, and updated the Tribunal rules with John McCrae Williamson, following a visit to AFL house by Paul Rice, Brian Berry and Peter Rintel.

A plumber by trade, Peter installed temporary ice tanks at locations such as shopping centres. He was Pat Burley's project manager for the Footscray Iceland rink development. Ballarat Iceland followed and he stayed on as manager after construction. The old ice-making equipment salvaged from Ringwood Iceland needed care, and he kept it running. Dave Allen and Greg Cooper, two Canadians who came to Australia to play in the super league, joined the staff in Ballarat and traveled to Footscray to play.

Liz worked with all the learn-to skaters. Over 1,000 school children went through the program in one year. She also helped potential ice hockey players develop power skating skills. Some of the better players represented Victoria, once the Ballarat Miners ice hockey club set up. The local team continued to improve under Allen and Cooper and the rink hosted games against overseas ice hockey teams touring Australia. The Rintels' 13 year-old son Jamie eventually won the inaugural Ballarat Cup against teams from other States.

Scott Davidson asked Liz to help with power skating for the Australian Junior Team headed for Bulgaria. Youngsters from most States attended a residential ice hockey camp, a first for Australia. The skills of the age group improved with help from Davidson, John Ekberg and Tony Cooper (who worked with goalies), Dave Allen and Liz. Many continued on to represent Australia at Youth, Junior and Senior level.

The Ballarat rink closed in 1981, two years after opening, and the Rintels returned to Melbourne. Someone purchased the rink plant and moved it to Bendigo. Oakleigh was Melbourne's only remaining rink after the closure of Burley's rinks at Ringwood and Dandenong, and the hockey camp tradition continued there the following year. Peter installed Graham Argue's ice floors at the Shanghai Arts Festival for a North American touring ice skating group, the Myer Music Bowl, and other sites.

In 1987, Liz and Peter were officials at the Asian Oceania youth tournament in Jilin, China, where the Australian team won the gold medal. The same year, Peter was manager of the Australian National Senior Team at the inaugural IIHF D-Pool championship hosted in Perth where Australia won gold. In 1988, he was tournament director with Peter Donegan for the Asian Oceania tournament held in Bendigo, the Bicentennial in Canberra, and he also took the National Senior Team to the Thayer Tutt Tournament in Eindhoven in Holland. Liz was usually Peter's assistant and the ice hockey camps he ran to bring the teams together almost became a full-time job.

Peter retired from internationals after managing the Australian team at C-Pool championships in Sydney in 1989. He continued as a manager of the Demons in the local league, where he was club president from 1985 to 1987, and won the Alan Coleman Trophy (1984). He later managed the Hakoah ice hockey club. Liz became Hakoah club secretary and managed its incorporation after the downsizing of the Oakleigh teams to four by rink management. She was awarded Hakoah best club person.

The Rintels involvement in ice hockey spanned about 20 years and their legacy of many new initiatives still benefit players and officials.