The Norwich club hockey team has evolved drastically over the past three years, its determination to be successful getting stronger and stronger.
“The Norwich University Club Hockey Team was established in the spring of 2008 in order to bridge the gap between the lunch time open hockey sessions and the extremely competitive varsity team. The Club Cadets played their first ever game at Lyndon State College downing the Hornets 11-6,” according to the Norwich Club Hockey website.
Norwich is known for its ability on the hockey rink. The club team gives other students a chance to play hockey at a competitive level.
“Seeing the team grow from a probationary period team that no one really knew of and now we have excelled,” said Ryan Leroux, 22, a senior from Potsdam, N.Y., majoring in health science.
The club hockey team was training in the offseason so it could improve its fitness for the upcoming season.
The team started its workouts around the second week of school with Jo-Lynn Ostler, one of the strength and conditioning coaches, along with its coach, Jeff Wuorinen.
“We did a lot of endurance, like strength, and just trying to get our legs under us,” Leroux said.
Team Co-captain Bryan White, 22, a junior from Cranston, R.I., and an engineering management major spoke about the improvements that the team has made during the preseason.
“We didn’t just do the same routine every week, we would do ladder drills which is quick feet movement but then we would also do endurance runs and when we came back we would do push ups and sit ups, some core workouts,” White said. “There is a lot of variation to our workouts, which is good, kept us on our toes.”
White also spoke about how he has seen the team change through the years, from teams not showing up to games to the team joining the American Collegiate Hockey Association.
“Now we have kids showing interest that they want to play even before they come to this school,” White added. “Talent has gone up as well as the competition.”
White added that he is trying to schedule games with some of the area Div. III teams so it can get some good playing time in. White believes that the club hockey team can prove a lot if it can beat a Div. III team.
White expressed that he wants fan to come to the games and support the team. They are giving away free T-shirts and have some games for little kids to play.
“I want to see fans go to the games, I want the rooks have a good time when they go down there,” according to White.
The club team plays in Kreitzberg Arena. For the schedule and more information, visit their website at www.norwichclubhockey.com.