The UT Ice Vols are skating through the semester and keeping their heritage alive.
According to its Facebook page, the UT Ice Vols hockey team was founded in 1966, and it is “the oldest and most established hockey program in the southeastern United States.”
The Ice Vols compete against teams in the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA), which includes more than 200 teams across the nation. Specifically, the team competes in the South Eastern Collegiate Hockey Conference (SECHC), with schools UT typically sees during a regular football season, like Vanderbilt University and the University of Mississippi.
The Ice Vols’s season began in late August with training and extends to February. So far, the team has competed against Florida State University, Mississippi State University, University of Alabama at Birmingham, University of South Carolina and Auburn University.
This weekend, they are playing against Middle Tennessee State University, and a comprehensive schedule of the team’s matches can be found on their Twitter account.
Each year the team competes in the SECHC Championship Tournament in February. The Ice Vols were the champion team in 2009. After, they were sent on to the ACHA Division 3 National Tournament held in Rochester, New York, where they finished in 11th place.
Scott Carter, senior captain and mechanical engineering major, said he has high aspirations for the team this year.
“Our goal this year is to win the SEC Tournament,” Carter said. “We have been in the middle of the pack for a few years, and this year we believe we have a great team and are capable of winning it all.”
Colton Banville, alternate captain and junior in advertising, said he enjoys playing with the Ice Vols because it offers him an activity outside of the classroom.
“I like being on the team because it gives me something to work hard for — a fun athletic activity multiple times per week, and it looks good on a resume to say I played for and led the team,” Banville said.
Banville said his favorite part of being on the team is the friendships he has made.
“My favorite part (of being on the team) is just being with the guys and girl who are on the team,” Banville said. “Most of my closest friends are on the team, and we have a great time playing for the same team each week.”
While the team is full of people from different backgrounds, majors and even different parts of the world, senior captain and religious studies major Erik Haski said their differences are brought together by their love for hockey.
“We have guys from all over the country who are all majoring in different things,” Haski said. “But at the end of the day, we all live, sleep and breathe hockey, which makes it easy to get along with each other … We have gone through a lot, off the ice, already this year, but through it, we have grown closer together as a family and not just a team.”
