By NICK CAPRIO
Ramapo College has not had an ice hockey team in almost 30 years, but in the fall 2015 semester, that will change.
Ramapo will be starting an ice hockey program to compete with neighboring schools, such as Montclair State and William Paterson. Ramapo will be playing against teams from the Super East Colligate Hockey League or the S.E.C.H.L. Art Chill and Mathew Rose lobbied for the idea of a hockey team and the only thing they are waiting on now is President Mercer’s approval.
Rose explained some of the things he had to do to get this program started,
“I talked to Art and he help me get everything set up with the Ramapo College athletic department and get set up to join the league. I just knew I wanted to keep playing hockey.”
The last year Ramapo had an ice hockey team was 1985, Art Chill who coached for Ramapo in the 70’s explained what kind of impact it had.
“When Ramapo first opened people didn’t think of us as a sport school,” said Chill. “The success the hockey team brought changed all of that.”
During Arts years coaching the team the roadrunners achieved much success. Back in 1974 Ramapo played in the New Jersey Intercollegiate Hockey League, they won back-to-back championships in the 1974-1976 seasons. The team was on the verge of a three peat but was upset in their third straight trip to the finals. This past success and impact is what the new program plans to bring back to Ramapo.
The Challenge
Rebooting a program is always a tough thing to do. Many questions have to be answered before students commit to a team. Devin Moran a current student at Ramapo and former all state hockey player for St. Joseph Regional High School expressed some of his concerns.
“Acquiring all the players for the team and recruiting players for the future. The talent level is important; you cannot just throw anybody out there and expect to have a good hockey team.”
The plan is to have a 25-man roster by next fall. It is hard to determine how many people will show up and what the talent level will be like but there is a lot of optimism.
“Club hockey is one of the biggest things in this country, football schools like LSU, Alabama, Arizona State all have club hockey teams.”
Arizona State just recently turned their club hockey team into a NCAA division I program. The interest level is just as high in New Jersey as well; neighboring schools such as Montclair State and William Paterson have been able to field 25 man squads for the past couple of years. William Paterson has won the S.E.C.H.L. the last four years in a row.
Another task the program is facing is the aspect of gathering money. All sports teams need funding and hockey in particular cost more than your average sport.
“Hockey is an extremely expensive sport and for most college kids money is hard to come by.” Moran said.
Devin estimated that when he played hockey in high school his equipment added up to around 3,000 dollars. Sticks, pads, helmets and skates are not cheap, especially if you want better quality. Each player for the Ramapo team would have to pay 2,500 in club fees on top of their individual equipment.
Most hockey players are well aware of this fact. People who have played hockey in the past usually have their own equipment as well. There are other ways the team can raise money besides spending their own. Mathew Rose explained some of those options,
“Fundraising on and off campus is going to be crucial, it is a good way to make a quick buck.” “The school can also help out the team, it is just like any other club or team on campus so that is another source.”
The final task is a simple one but maybe the most crucial, being organized. Art is working on hiring a head coach to run and organize practice for player development. A general manager would be needed to handle the coach and any publicity the team receives. Their would need to be a faculty staff advisor to deal with team and school relations as well. Art is in the process of finding people qualified to be in control of those two positions. The team would practice and play their games at Sport-o-rama located in Monsey New York, only about 20 minutes away from campus.
End Goal
At the end of the day the goal is to have a successful competitive hockey team. When you see sister schools like Montclair and William Paterson with teams there is no reason this cannot be accomplished. Mathew Rose, said it best once again,
“ I knew when I graduated from high school I wanted to continue to play, I just spread the word on campus and have received a lot of feedback.”
Interest is clearly up as well; New Jersey has produced many successful ice hockey players. Ramapo already has a roller hockey team which travels all over New Jersey to play.
Reestablishing this program can give Ramapo and its student athletes a spark and bring back a tradition it has not had in nearly 30 years.
“When Ramapo first open the hockey team put it on the map. We expect to be competitive and bring back that tradition.” Chill Said.
Art and Mathew are very serious about bringing this program back but cannot do it on their own. If you are serious about joining the team or helping the team in any way you can contact Art at achill@ramapo.edu or Mathew at mrose1@ramapo.edu.
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