By SCOTT LAWSON
News Editor
The College of Saint Rose welcomes a new activity for students to partake in. On Wednesday, Nov. 9, the Student Association approved the constitution of the Ice Knights Hockey Club.
The club is headed by Kyle Balicki, a junior at The College of Saint Rose, who says that this idea has been in the works before even coming to Saint Rose.
Prior to coming to the college, Balicki had played in hockey leagues since his freshman year in high school. He knew that at one time the school had a club at one time, but according to Balicki, that disbanded in 2006. He was pushed by friends to submit a constitution to the Student Association, and after one rejection, his dream is finally coming into the light.
Lori Blosser, the Student Association’s director of special interest groups, is the representative who oversees the new Ice Knights Hockey Club. She is nothing but excited for the introduction of this new club.
“I am very excited to work with a sport club and SA is excited about working with a sport club because it had been a few years since there has been a sport club under SA,” said Blosser. “Maybe I will learn some things about hockey too!”
Blosser is not the only Student Association board member who thinks that the Ice Knights Hockey Club is a good thing for the Saint Rose community.
Meagan Corbett, director of social activities, feels thinks that this is a positive addition for the students.
“What I like is that as a college we are adding on more,” said Corbett. “It helps us expand more as a school. I think that this adds to the theme of expansion.”
Because the club is affiliated with SA, some of their budget will come from the student activities fees that are paid. However, the club is insistent on trying to raise most of their money on their own.
“We totally understand that things are going to be expensive…we are going to raise money by fundraising and donations,” said Balicki.
The club is open to anyone who wants to play. Currently there are 10 people who are heavily interested in being a part of the club.
Interested in playing and don’t have pads? That will not be an issue according to Balicki.
“We are open to pretty much anyone…anyone who is looking to compete,” said Balicki. “We are also going to be the only team that is going to be co-ed…all but one [of the players] have their own equipment….for the people that don’t, we are going to make sure that we supply them with that.”
A coach has not been selected yet. However, Balicki says that he has three people in mind. The team will be a part of the Metropolitan Collegiate Hockey Conference where they will play teams like SUNY New Paltz, Steven’s College, and schools that are in Long Island and New Jersey – either at those colleges or at the Bethlehem YMCA located at 900 Delaware Avenue. He also says that he is working on something even bigger.
“We are going to try to set up an exhibition game with Albany,” said Balicki. “I’m trying to see if we could possibly get that at the Times Union [Center].”
