KSU In-line hockey team works toward national championship

    Left, right. Left, right. The glide of the wheels creates friction against the hard floor underneath, propelling the player forward. He moves swiftly, keeping the puck in control, carefully guarding it with his stick to reach the goal.
    Hockey and K-State are not terms usually combined. For the 12 men who are the current active members of the Kansas State Inline Hockey team, however, these two words will always be associated.

    The hockey team found its footing 10 years ago according to Jerry Remsbecker.

    "I noticed some guys playing roller hockey on the tennis courts ... and they said they were the K-State Roller Hockey Club," Remsbecker said. "I asked if they wouldn't mind an old man suiting up and playing with them." It was during this time that Remsbecker realized the club did not have an actual coach, but merely a faculty adviser.
    After talking with the students further, Remsbecker offered his support, and at the end of the year, became the team's official coach.

    "[The changes have been] tremendous. We used to practice once a week on the tennis courts outdoors when the weather was decent and then we would struggle to get enough guys to go to St. Louis to play our games. We would usually pick a team Friday night to leave Saturday morning," Remsbecker said. "At that time, we were one of the best teams in the Great Plains Region, which is pretty amazing."

    Moving from the tennis courts and once-a-weeks, practices are now held on an actual skating rink — Spin City in Junction City — and are held twice a week — Tuesday and Wednesday nights. As changes continued to greet the team, new successes greet them as well.

    During the 2000-2001 season, the team received the title of champions in the regular season for the Great Plains Region. Remsbecker said this victory earned the team an invitation to the national championship competition in California where they made it to the final four.

    "In the 2001-02 season, we also won the region and went to nationals, but I'm afraid the guys were a little overconfident, and we didn't do real well," Remsbecker said. "Hopefully, we're going back."

    The first tournament will occur preseason Oct. 4-5 in Denver.
    "I am excited to get to play in our regular season games and get competitive," said Coleman Younger, sophomore in pre-journalism. "I can't even tell you how excited I am to see us get together and play as a team and see how we stack up."

    Younger joined the team last year, completely new to the world of competitive hockey. He started as a player with little knowledge and was thrown into the season when another team member was injured.

    "I had never played competitive hockey," Coleman said. "Honestly, I was hoping to get a year to feel things out and see what the game was like. I wanted to feel my way through the position but I was kind of thrown into the season. It was kind of the best way to learn — learn by doing. If I had to do it again, I would. I'm happy with the way it came out. I kind of learned it on the fly like that."

    The team welcomes players of all skill levels, whether an experienced hockey player or just learning to skate.

    "We have two or three guys on the team that have never ever skated before," said Travis Bender, freshman in pre-psychology. "They liked hockey and decided to come out and are doing really well. No matter how much experience you've had, you're going to be welcome on the team."

    Bender is one of the fresh faces on the team with experience on the floor as he enters his eighth year of play.

    "I like the competitiveness of it," he said. "I like the speed, and I like the camaraderie. I like doing different team building stuff and when you walk onto a new team, just getting to know everybody."

    The team is given several opportunities to bond both on and off the hockey floor. Just recently, the members joined together to watch the K-State vs. Louisville football game after Wednesday's practice. Since all the season games occur outside the state, the team shares  traveling adventures as well.
    Being so far from home,  can also have its disadvantages. Though some parents  regularly attend the team's games, rarely do  K-State students.

    "I'd like to have a game where the stands are full," Younger said. "Just to have a whole bunch of people there — your friends and family, your school. If we make it to nationals this year, which is not out of reach by any means, it would be nice to have people come see us play."

    The stands are full of screaming fans, rhythmically clapping as if to the thump of his heart as he continues his trek across the floor to the goal. He is so close but his opponents are speeding nearer and nearer. It's time – time to take the shot. Pulling the stick back, he slaps the puck. 
    The crowd is on its feet as the puck flies just above the floor and slides right by the left corner of the goal. An overwhelming sigh sweeps over the room.

    "You need to be able to forget things quickly. You're going to make mistakes," Younger said. "You just have to let that go right away and just keep getting at it. You can't quit."

    Luckily, there is always the next shot.