Matt Weir / The Collegian Online

Ice hockey skates on after 18 years

The Fresno Falcons may have left, but one hockey team exists in Fresno that has been around for 18 years. Fresno State has its own hockey club team and it has been a part of campus life at Fresno State since 1991. The club team joined the Pacific Collegiate Hockey Association (PCHA) that same year.

Recruiting
The majority of the members of the team come from California with the exception of three players. Senior goaltender Joe Ricupero (inset photo) is from South Central, Pennsylvania.

“I came here to play hockey,” Ricupero said.

Ricupero, who has played hockey since the age of ten, came to Fresno to play. Ricupero learned about the team through a previous coach. “I was kind of going on my coach’s word,” he said.

Players are not recruited to the team in the same manner. Head coach Marcel Bourdase went to see freshman goaltender Nate Lamberty play at the Nor-Cal championships. Then Lamberty got a phone call from coach Bourdase and that’s when playing for Fresno State became an idea for Lamberty.

Matt Weir / The Collegian Online

“He [Bourdase] gave me a tour of the campus and kind of showed me everything and got me really interested,” Lamberty said.

Sophomore Travis Bybee recruited himself for the team and didn’t need help from Bourdase.

“I kind of already had it planned out that I was coming here,” Bybee said.

The team does not require previous experience to play the game, but players are only allowed to play for a maximum of five years.

Expense
Unlike the university-sanctioned sports on campus, the men on the hockey team have to pay for their time on the ice. Each year the members of the team pay $2,500 to play hockey. “We pay for pretty much everything,” Bybee said.

The dues cover time at the ice rink, referees for home games, equipment and travel. The team does not have a facility on campus to play at, so it uses the Gateway Ice Center to host home games and practices.

The members of the team can get sponsorships from local businesses to help pay dues. Those who cannot get the total amount due from sponsorship then pay a monthly due. Senior defender Chris McCormick is used to asking businesses for money.

“People around here don’t know that we have a team and are really interested in supporting us and helping us out any way they can,” McCormick said.

Scheduling and school
Each team in the PCHA has a representative go to a meeting where rules and schedules are handed down. The schedule works out so that games are played Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and not too many classes are missed. During the season players will miss the occasional class, but they can get clearance from their professors. The players have a letter that states they are in a school sport. “We get the same acceptance as other athletes would,” McCormick said.

The importance of school ranks high in the minds of the players. Lamberty set his class schedule around the hockey team. Players are required to have a minimum number of units and maintain a grade point average of 2.0.

“If it wasn’t for my academics, I wouldn’t be allowed to play,” Lamberty said.