Hockey team plans fund raiser
In hopes of keeping the hockey program going strong and generating community interest in the sport, the Utah State men’s hockey club is sponsoring “Skate with the Aggies” night this Friday from 5-9 p.m. at Merlin Olsen (Central) Park in Logan.
“Aside from the university, people don’t know much about us,” said assistant captain Deryk Anderson. “We want people to know we’re around.”
Among the activities planned for Friday night include private skating lessons, a speed gun measuring how fast one can fire a puck and a chance for fans to play a three-on-three mini-scrimmage against Aggie players of their choice, Anderson said. Fans will also have a chance to win tickets to future USU hockey games.
Anyone interested is invited.
Other than rental fees for those who don’t have skates, admission is free of charge. There will be a donation box and those in attendance are encouraged to donate to the cause, Anderson said. Proceeds from the event will go to the hockey team, with a portion of the money going toward the building of the Bridgerland Community Ice Arena (BCIA), he said.
In addition to Friday’s activities, Shaffer’s bakery in Macey’s will be donating free donuts and hot chocolate to the activity, he said.
Anderson said team managers and players have been planning for such an event for quite some time. Besides raising money for the team, Anderson said he hopes the event will sparks people’s interest for the BCIA and said the team wants to establish a positive influence in the community.
“I think this is a good way to help the team to be more visible,” he said. “You don’t really see a lot of sport teams out in the community. We hope to do something like this for the community every year.”
“We just want to give back a little bit (to the community).”
Both Anderson and teammate Danny Wilson hope this event will serve as a catalyst to the growth of the club team and help secure the financial footing of the program.
“We’re ready to do anything we can to keep this program going strong,” Wilson said.
The USU hockey club, like many other club sports offered at USU, requires much personal sacrifice from the individual team members and organizers. According to Anderson, the average hockey player pays $300-400 a year out of his own pocket per season – give or take a little depending on fan attendance and the number and length of road trips.
Under the current club system at USU, the hockey club is allocated $9,500 a year. Expenses required for maintaining the program far exceed that figure – a figure that includes costs of around $25,000 a year just for ice time expenses, let alone equipment and road trip costs, Anderson said. He said it costs the team $135 an hour for access to the Weber County Ice Sheet. Although that is a substantial amount of money, he said the costs are even greater for other arenas.
Not only does playing hockey require a big investment of money, but time as well. The team practices every Monday and Wednesday night from 10:30 p.m. -12:15 a.m., with an occasional team meeting held at 10 p.m. Because all home practices and games are held in Ogden, most team members leave Logan at around 9 p.m. and don’t arrive home until 2 a.m., Anderson said.
“I don’t think many people realize what it takes to keep the team running,” Wilson said.