On the Ice With the FIT Hockey Team
Being a native of Florida, there has been little opportunity or reason for me to get into sports such as ice hockey. Ice and snow are not things we generally have here. While we do have some ice hockey teams here in Florida, it is still fairly uncommon to find many people who truly follow the sport. Until I came to Florida Tech, that is.
We have a large population of students from the northern U.S., Europe and other places where it gets below freezing and hockey is popular. Since I started at Florida Tech, I have heard people talk about the hockey team quite a bit, and while I’d heard about the games and saw them advertised, I had never really seen much reason to go to a game. This year, however, I have a few friends on the team. So to support them, I went to their first home game, which was also my first ice hockey game.
While I won’t pretend I fully understand the game, having only ever seen this one game, it was a really fun experience and I did learn a lot about the game from other students. The students here take their games very seriously, and hockey games are no exception. The bleachers were fairly crowded at the beginning and there were multitudes of students yelling and screaming down towards the players. From what I’ve heard from other people that attend games regularly, this is pretty common for the hockey games here. I could definitely hear more than a few voices going by the end of the night, but no one let up. Even though we lost, no one ever stopped screaming. After the game, I decided to ask some of my friends a few questions about what it’s like being on the hockey team.
Allie Folcik
Year: Sophomore Years on team: 1 Position: Forward wing
What’s your favorite part of being on the hockey team?
I really enjoy getting to play hockey after high school.
So, you’ve played on both girls’ and guys’ teams. What’s the biggest difference between playing on a girls’ team versus a guys’ team?
Girls’ teams are not allowed to check [hit] other players. I like this about guys’ teams because I’m too aggressive for a girls’ team.
Chris Kennedy
Year: Junior Years on team: 2 Position: Goalie
What’s your favorite part of being on the hockey team?
My team. It’s cool being able to play a sport not really native to Florida with people from across the U.S. and Europe.
What made you decide to be a goalie over any other position?
I was a forward until I was 10. Then, I switched to goalie just to try it and I never looked back. It’s a position that fits me, I think.
Mike Robison
Year: Senior Years on team: 2 Position: Goalie
What’s your favorite part of being on the hockey team?
Just the amount of fun we have as a team and that we get to play hockey.
What would you like to see from the team before you graduate?
I would really like to win and to be able to get a win for the team.
Going to this hockey game has been one of the most enjoyable sporting events I’ve gone to during my time at Florida Tech, and I’d highly recommend going, regardless of if you know anything about the sport or not. It’s a ton of fun and a very high-energy game. Who knows? You may even become a fan.
