USF Ice Bulls play for the love of the game, no matter the cost

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
March 8, 2017

TAMPA, Fla. – For the love of the game.

Club college hockey players pay to play. No athletic scholarships are offered by the school. Ice time has to be purchased, equipment is not provided and travel fees come out of pocket.

Late night practices are the norm, sometimes up to 45 minutes away, which used to be the case for the USF Hockey club team, which has been around since 1989 and competes in the American Collegiate Hockey Association at the Division III level.

There are no NHL scouts knocking down doors with contract offers in hand.

Yet, they play, because they love the game. In many ways, the game loves them back.

While that passion fuels play on the ice, it’s not enough to fully fuel USF’s trip to the ACHA National Championship, which takes place in Columbus, Ohio, from March 14-18. USF opens play on Tuesday at 7:45 p.m. against Calvin College (Grand Rapids, Mich.) in Pool C, which also includes Farmingdale (N.Y.) State and Colorado State. The winner of the pool advances to the semifinals on March 17 with the championship game scheduled for March 18.

To help pay for the trip, USF Hockey has set up a GoFundMe page to help raise funds to cover the cost of the trip to Columbus, with each player seeking to raise $750 to cover expenses. Tampa Bay Lightning forward J.T. Brown, who saw a tweet from Lightning Insider and donated $725 to go toward Terrance Glanton, the lone African-American player on the team.

Brown said he “wanted to support a fellow black hockey player. Hopefully they will raise the total amount trip so they can all take the trip to nationals.’’

But in the end, passion is the driving force, embodied in part by the likes of freshman goaltender Sam Coleman, who thought he left the game behind before being pulled back in.

Coleman is a native of Tampa – his family moved here when he was three – who played youth hockey in the area growing up. He was on the radar of some higher level of play as a goaltender, invited to camps in the Northeast. In the Lighting High School Hockey League, Coleman played for Jesuit.

After graduating high school and enrolling at USF, where he will major in biomedical science, Coleman put his pads away looking to concentrate on his studies as he started his freshman year.

But there was a pull he continued to feel.

”My whole entire life up to that had been full of hockey and time was all taken up by hockey,’’ Coleman said. “So I was kind of looking forward to a break, but you stop playing for a little bit, and it’s been a huge part of my life and I really missed it. So I said, “screw it, I’m going back’’ and I regret now that I had taken that break in the beginning. I wasted a couple of months that I could have been playing with these guys. I wish I would have started playing with USF sooner.’’

Coleman fit right in and is a big reason why the Bulls are heading the ACHA National Championships. In the South Regional tournament, which was played at the recently opened Florida Hospital Ice Center in Wesley Chapel, Coleman pitched a shutout against South Carolina, stopping all 31 shots in a 1-0 overtime victory on Feb. 24. The next night he stopped 30 shots in a 6-3 victory against Liberty University to win the region and advance to the ACHA championship.

Senior forward Huw Baveystock is in his fourth season with the Ice Bulls since coming to USF from Reading, England, where he played hockey in the British junior leagues growing up. When he came across a college recruiter from USF, the first question he asked was if there was a hockey team.

Four years later, he’s forged friendships and memories in a new country because of his love of the game.

”As soon as I showed up to try outs everyone was so nice to me and so hospitable,’’ Baveystock said. “Joining the team was one of the best decisions that I’ve made, personally. It was a big-time commitment traveling to Ellenton (where they used to practice and play before moving to Wesley Chapel in February) and road trip, it does occasionally put a strain on school work and all the other commitments you have in life.

“But I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world because the time I’ve got to spend with my teammates and the time spent playing ice hockey, the sport I love, honestly it’s been one of the best experiences I could have ever hoped for.’’

Senior captain Danny Hoeflich, who has served as the club president for the past two seasons, grew up in Orlando, Fla., playing both roller hockey and ice hockey with the Junior Knights program. As club president the past two seasons, Hoeflich has put in a real labor of love, ensuring the team ran as smoothly as possible.

Perhaps there were more than a few curse words tossed about in frustration and complaint along the way, but he’s been a key part of seeing the team find a new home in Wesley Chapel – a 15-minute ride from campus that has seen attendance increase for both practices and games – and now has the club heading to the nationals in his final season, leaving behind what he hopes is a strong legacy to continues moving forward.

“I just hope this team continues to grow and do what we are supposed to do,” Hoeflich said. “There have been a lot of steps we have taken, and I just hope to see this team grow forward and hopefully punch in to D-II in the future in the ACHA and then anything can go from there.”

Being a part of the team is a big commitment in more than once aspect and while Hoeflich did not want to get in to specific costs each player incurs to be a part of the team, he said “it’s a big expense and to throw it on top school work and other stuff, it’s something that shouldn’t be nearly as much as it is, but it’s relatively close to youth travel hockey.”

But in the end, it’s all been a labor of love for a game they all love to play, no matter the costs.

“There are days I come home and I hate this team and then there are other days I just can’t believe it,” Hoeflich said. “I go back and forth every day but that’s just because I care so much about this team and I want to see us do well and I guess we are doing well, so it’s all been worth it.”