Club hockey team finds new home

Men’s club hockey to change practice courts from distant Rocket Roller Rink to Wellness Center court

In early November, Georgia College will be opening its $28 million Wellness and Recreation Center on West Campus. Not only will the new center be a place for students to exercise in a large location, but the Wellness and Recreation Center will also benefit GC’s club hockey team.

For the past three years the team has practiced every Sunday and Wednesday at the Rocket Roller Rink near Wal-Mart for an hour and a half. The skating rink is located 10 minutes away from the main campus, requiring players to commute to an off-campus location.

Also, the skating rink they practice on is not designed for hockey; its primary use is for recreational roller skating. The Rocket Roller Rink is an older building and is not well lit, giving the goal tenders low visibility. Half of the game of hockey is playing off of the boards, however at the Rocket Roller Rink there are no boards, and pucks get stuck in the corners of the rink, slowing down play and wasting additional practice time.

Another major disadvantage of playing at the rink is that it is not made of the same surface the team plays its games on. This is a disadvantage for the players because it does not give them adequate preparation for their 24 game season beginning in early October. These games include 16 regular season games a year, up to 8 playoff games and two tournaments scheduled by the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association.

The new multi-purpose court at the Wellness Center will give the players an accurate representation of how the game setting will feel. Senior outdoor education major Jeff Brittain was one of the founding members of the Hockey Club in 2008 and a former forward for the team. He has witnessed first-hand the negative effects of not having a proper location for the team to practice and is optimistic about the new Wellness Center.

“The team will benefit from the new Wellness Center because it will house a multi-purpose court that we will use to skate on and have our practices,” Brittain said.

Scheduling for the team will become much easier, and because the team is a GC club, they will no longer have to pay a fee to practice at the Rocket Roller Rink.

“The Rocket Roller Rink used to charge us $50 to $60 per practice adding up to $100 to $120 per week (make sure this is the correct amount from the roller rink),” Brittain said. “The club will definitely be practicing more now that we have a new facility that we won’t have to pay to use.”

The team will be without three of its veteran players for the upcoming season, but the new members will be able to experience all of the practice benefits the Wellness Center has to offer with a fresh start while they pursue their club hockey career.

For more information about Georgia College’s Club Roller Hockey team join the Facebook group “GCSU Hockey,” or email the team at hockey.gcsu@gmail.com.