Life as a College Student
It is every parents dream for their child or children to get into a well established college and graduate. They want their children to get a fantastic education, learn life lessons, and figure out how to perform on their own. Now it is every child’s dreams to get into college and spend many over the top, unsupervised, and wild years away from home. Somewhere in the mix come student athletes who are fortunate enough to receive financial assistance through athletic scholarships during these untamed years. Not all sports offer this though, and that’s where the life of College Roller Hockey is born. It portrays the true dedication in students.
To start, it takes devotion for a student to work hard enough through grade school to get into an accredited school. After that now they need to pay for tuition on their own. To top it all off, they then have to try-out to make a team in which they will be spending well needed beer money to pay for hockey trips, equipment, and other team related expenses.
The life of a College Roller Hockey player is like none other. My name is Jeff Cohen and I am just that, a College Roller Hockey player. I am a veteran of the hockey world, and the captain of the University of Central Florida roller hockey team. This article is dedicated to any young players and or parents, to broaden their horizons and introduce to them the outstanding road that may lie ahead.
First off, the sanction league which supports all the teams is the NCRHA or National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association. I would like to tip my hat off to every person that puts in their time and effort to make this league run effectively.
Collegiate Roller Hockey is known as a Club Sport. What does this mean? The short version is a student organization that is ridiculously underfunded, not recognized under any school athletic publication, and ran and organized by players on the team. If you asked any team president or captain if there was one thing they could improve, they would all give the same answer; MONEY. Depending on the school each team receives funding for certain criteria. Here at UCF our funding covers the league fees associated with our two teams. Other schools around the country get zero assistance from the school. All in all, it is amazing to see the amount of money that comes out of each student’s tight budget every year. The UCF players easily spend over $1,000 a year between jerseys, equipment, travel, and rink time. Players look to cut costs anywhere they can, and forfeit beds and quality food to do just that. I have personally experienced players sleeping in their cars at the rink parking lots because they simply couldn’t afford a hotel room for the night. Every organization runs some type of fundraiser, some are profitable, and some are just to please the school in saying that they attempted to produce revenue. On the contrary to all of this, there are a few programs around the country whose schools give them a budget large enough to cover pretty much all costs, but I can probably count them on one hand.
The next thing that has to be accepted by the players, is the recognition of the club at the school. Every school is different with this based upon the schools risk management plans, and bylaws. At UCF we are not allowed to use any official logos, names, mascots, or anything that puts the “UCF” name out there. Other schools are hand fed logos, names, and anything else the school can offer. Either way, no matter what cooperation the school may have, none consider the Roller Hockey Program as an athletic sport. Upon playing hockey at the school be prepared to not be recognized by anything more than a regular student. Be prepared to win huge events and no one on campus having any idea this occurred. But none of this matters, because as a team you know what you have accomplished and that it was only possible by the dedication displayed by every member in that organization. Will College Roller Hockey ever become an NCAA sport? I think the more realistic question is; how can the teams get more recognition from the schools without being a sanctioned NCAA athletic team?
The organization and administrative resources for the teams is what shows the true passion of the college players. There is no “Team Mom” to bring the chips and snacks after your Saturday morning games. The players are their own managers, and have to personally take care of all administrative processes to be qualified in the league and sanctioned by the school. With over 200 teams in the league, each team has players who have stepped up and taken the head presidential role. Some perform better than others, and those organizations are easily spotted. The officers who run the programs are liaisons between the players, school advisors, and league officials. They constantly are figuring out how to sync three totally different rules and procedures. The team’s ultimate success is based upon the officers ability to do this. The work associated with the team is just the icing on the cake though. Students do this on top of taking a full load of classes, and working a part time job. The president will become a mastermind magician learning how to juggle all these tasks while still having a strong social presence at school.
So are you ready? Are you ready to forfeit part of your social life? Are you ready to study during ridiculously long road trips? Are you ready to become a Collegiate Roller Hockey Player? I hope so! I hope that every single one of you young players reading this strives to play at a prominent program. Train hard, and study even harder. Don’t let anyone or anything stand in your way of attending your dream school. The future of College Roller Hockey is in your hands; don’t let down the generations following in your footsteps.
On a more personal note, joining the team here at UCF has been one of the best things I have ever done. Not only has it allowed me to continue playing hockey and doing what I love, but it has also created so many amazing memories and friendships. I could sit here for hours telling stories of being squashed in cars, stuck on the floor of hotel rooms, sleeping in bleachers, or stranded in airports; the journey just never ends. Not only have I had the time of my life, but participating in the administrative part of the team I have learned so much and feel much more prepared for the “real world.” The relationships made with members on this team will be everlasting. Next year will be my 5th and final year on the team, and I am going to strive to make it the best one yet.
I hope that as upcoming players you look into our school for your college career. UCF is one of the top 10 largest schools in the nation, and has striving and improving academic programs. With any major imaginable, it would be a challenge to find one not offered at UCF. Wither you live in Florida or want to travel out of state for school, UCF is the place to be!! For more information on our program please check out our site at www.rollerhockeyucf.com or the league site at www.ncrha.org.
