It’s Friday, Dec. 5 at the Wonderland of Ice in Bridgeport. Fairfield University’s club hockey team is about to square off against Yale. However, there is a real problem at the rink tonight: There are no fans present.
The bleachers play host to a dozen or so people who seem to be over 30 and therefore must be parents and relatives. Where, then, are all of the team’s student fans?
The answer lies with the cancellation of a fan bus to the rink in Bridgeport. The fan buses played a crucial role in granting access for underclassmen to the club hockey team’s games. Now that there isn’t transportation provided, the team has gone through its season with an empty rink. This lack of attendance this season serves as a real low blow to a team that has worked hard to achieve success.
Fairfield’s hockey team has come a long way over the years and its regional recognition as a developing hockey plan is due to the team, as well as its head coach.
It was five years ago when coach Marshall Richards joined Fairfield’s hockey team behind the bench. Richards joined the organization when the team had been moved from Division I to club hockey status. In the time that he has served as head coach, Richards has worked hard to transform his club hockey team into a proud representation of the University.’
Under Richards’ leadership, the club team made it all the way to nationals just last year. A recent article in The Mirror celebrated the team’s success, but wrongly blamed the lack of support for the organization one year after its championship run on disinterest. The real culprit for the change?’
The absence of transportation to and from games for supportive members of the Fairfield community.
Richards, as a coach, is steadily approaching 100 wins and each year the team continues to prove itself. To have no fan support because of a busing problem after such a successful year is disappointing.
The hockey team at Fairfield had enjoyed a tradition of student fans rallying in the stands to cheer on the hard working team.
Now the team plays in a rink that resembles a ghost town. If you were to ask the team about the fan turnout this season, it is apparent that the lack of support has hurt team enthusiasm and confidence.
Freshman Chris Pacicco confirms this sentiment. ‘We need fans, it will help the morale of the team,’ Paccicco said.
Left wing Ethan Finlay ’09 said, ‘I feel like I’m out for a Sunday skate with no fans.’
The recent article in The Mirror sugar coats the attendance this season, as a vast majority of the team is upset with the turnout.
‘(There has been) zero turnout beyond parents’ freshman goaltender Mike Pagliuco.
In fairness to the team and its recent successes, the University’s club hockey team has come very far as an organization and deserves the support of the college community.
So what was the cause of the fan bus cancellation?
Rumors circulate through the rink, as the club hockey team has no one to turn to, or to blame. Representatives of club sports at Fairfield could not be reached to comment on the situation.
Searching for answers in an all but abandoned rink, it is hard to tell what the cause truly is.
A disagreement between Fairfield and The Wonderland of Ice stands as the most likely cause of the fan bus cancellation. Ideally, it would have been nice to reach a formal agreement prior to the start of the season in the fall, but it seems that it was simply an administrative problem between the two organizations that simply was not resolved. To leave such a problem unanswered, though, has caused the club hockey team to suffer.
The Fairfield administration should solve this problem, if only to reward the team for its success and show equity across the board for all club sport teams. The club hockey team is certainly not feeling respected this season as it struggles to get even a meager attendance. Fairfield needs to do something for next season so that underclassmen can celebrate a hockey team of which they should be proud. This of course will boost morale for an already accomplished team.
On the other hand, while it is difficult to blame the student body for this problem, this issue needs to be fixed by students going the extra mile to support a deserving team. The Wonderland of Ice is not very far from school and the team would like to return to the previous glory that echoed through their home ice.
It is up to the upperclassmen who have cars to make it out to the game in the absence of the fan busses. There is no excuse for this problem to persist and if Fairfield’ will do nothing to support the club hockey team, then it lies with the upperclassmen students to carpool in support of the team.
Let’s celebrate the team’s success not by simply writing about it in the past tense, but instead by attending the team’s upcoming games, regardless of the lack of fan busing or the absence of StagBus transportation.
The team has a few games left that desperately need a home ice advantage and strong fan support. The next game at Wonderland of Ice is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 6 at 8 p.m. against SUNY-New Paltz.
Let’s turn Wonderland of Ice into the great venue it once was in support of a great team.
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