Of the many possible athletic activities available to Virginia students year-round, a handful of students choose to subject their bodies to the physical challenges of ice hockey for "the love of the game."
The Virginia men's ice hockey club trains long before their season begins -- in the chilly days of September -- and ends in the warmer spring days of March. They put themselves through this so that they can continue to celebrate the success that their program has come to exemplify.
"We get beat up, and guys get hurt, but all of us know there is nothing else we would rather be doing with our time," senior Mark Martyak said.
The hockey club competes in the Division II American Collegiate Hockey League (A.C.H.L.). The nationwide league, composed of four conferences, governs the Atlantic Coast Collegiate Hockey League (A.C.C.H.L.), to which Virginia belongs. An official for the club schedules conference games against North Carolina, Duke, George Mason, Georgetown and Virginia Tech, in addition to non-conference matchups with teams such as Navy, Stanford and Cal Berkley.
"Club hockey has grown throughout the country and has become very competitive," Martyak said. "More and more schools have started programs, and, at many schools, it has become quite an attraction for spectators and potential students."
The club is composed both of students that express interest in competing and those that are recruited to play at Virginia, despite its non-varsity status.
"Players are attracted to the academic excellence at U.Va. but the fact that we have a well established and competitive hockey team is a factor for most of our potential players," Martyak said. "A number of the players are from Virginia, but we attract players from all over, including Canada, Minnesota, and New England -- areas more traditionally associated with ice hockey. We also get players from prestigious prep school programs and even players who transfer from other schools, especially NCAA Division III programs."
With the collection of nationally, internationally and locally-recruited players, Virginia has enjoyed the benefit of great talent and has yet to suffer a conference loss. Last year, Virginia claimed the A.C.C.H.L. regular season title before falling in a thrilling championship game to Georgetown in the tournament.
"We should be able to end the season No. 1 again, and, this year, we won't let anything stop us from winning the championship trophy," sophomore Adam Hermida said.
Fans of the team enjoy a unique experience at Charlottesville Ice Park, one that is very different from Virginia's varsity sports.
"At our rink there are no bleachers, so the fans all stand along the glass and get an incredible experience," Martyak said. "People have come up to me and told me what a rush it is to have a guy get smashed into the boards right in front of them with only a thin piece of glass separating them from the action."
Often not considered an important sport in this region of the nation, the club team has given Virginia students the opportunity to do what they love.
"Playing club hockey for me has been a wonderful experience," Hermida said. "We have strong competition, talented players, great coaching and tons of fun. The best part of club ice hockey is that I am able to still play my favorite sport at a competitive level yet also stay involved in other activities around Grounds"
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