COLUMN: Hockey toils in obscurity

From Brian Hindo's, "Guilty as Charged" Indeed, the Penn club hockey team has played a whole season's worth of games at the Class of 1923 Ice Rink but not a whole lot of people saw it. And that is a shame. I know what you're thinking -- Penn has a hockey team? It's a question that has bothered almost every member of the team, which competes in two Division II leagues despite its non-varsity status. So lacking the prestige and funding of a varsity sport, the hockey team skates in relative obscurity, with Penn students missing one of the greatest spectator sports in the world. Ever since Penn abandoned the varsity program in 1978, it has been an uphill battle for the club team to stay afloat and to gain back a fan base for a sport that once competed with the basketball team for Penn sports fans in the winter. Most of the problems start with money. Although the club gets funded by the Club Sports Council -- and receives the most money of any club sport -- hockey club president Michael Grossman said funding does not even cover ice time. "The money is a huge issue," Grossman said. "We don't get ice time free even though we have our own rink. Even what [the Club Sports Council] gives us doesn't cover our ice bill and there are plenty of expenses beyond that, so that's certainly a burden on the students." The end result is a heavy financial commitment from the club members and the necessity to cancel some practices because the team can't afford it. The effects of the money problems are by no means limited to the ice, however. Most teams in Penn's divisions can both afford larger coaching staffs and recruiting. "That's where we're at a disadvantage because all the other teams in our league, especially the better teams, go out and have large coaching staffs, send kids letters, go to high school tournaments," Grossman said. "But we just don't have the resources to do that." Furthermore, the funding flummox does not allow the team to pump money into advertising, decreasing its ability to draw fans to games , which bothers a lot of team members. "We don't usually get many fans," sophomore forward John Pickard said. "[It's hard] when we're at home and the other team has plenty more fans then we do. It's like you're playing away all the time." But the club does engage in some fundraising and publicity endeavors. Players put up flyers before the game against Princeton, and the team is selling hats on Locust Walk this week. In March, the club plans to hold a phone-a-thon to tap both its club alums and those of the ill-fated varsity squad. Speaking of the varsity squad, Grossman said he has heard his share of reinstatement rumors. "I've heard the president didn't like the violent aspect of hockey and a lot of the guys on the team had caused some problems at the school," Grossman said. "Also I'm sure Title IX had something to do with it." Regardless of the University's motives, the onus should be placed squarely on the fans. Many complain about Penn's lack of varsity hockey, yet few support the hockey Penn does have. If the team did have a loyal following, Penn would certainly be faced with a more compelling case to bring back varsity. All you Penn hockey fans have missed an entire season. But you have another chance. Friday at 5:15 p.m., at the Class of '23 rink, the team hosts its first playoff opponent -- either St. Joe's or Princeton. Redeem yourselves and take advantage of what is unfortunately one of Penn's best kept secrets.