All  Roads  Lead  to  Roller    

       

There’s  a  saying  around  the  hockey  community  that  all  roads  lead  to  men’s  league.  It’s  a  way  to  keep  everyone  humble.  After  spending  a  few  years  as  a  player,  being  involved  with  NCRHA  Coast  2  Coast  and  even  half  a  season  as  a  coach,  I’m  convinced  there’s  a  better  saying  out  there  and  it  has  nothing  to  do  with  keeping  people  humble.      All  roads  lead  to  roller.      Here’s  a  quick  story.  My  sophomore  year  of  college  I  was  walking  down  the  busiest  part  of  our  campus,  where  bike  lanes  and  walkways  converge  into  chaos.  There  was  a  kid  riding  his  longboard  wearing  a  Revision  Hockey  shirt  and  he  was  skating  right  into  the  path  I  was  about  to  walk  through.  I  had  never  seen  this  kid  so  I  decided  to  try  to  stop  him.  “Yo!  Dude!  You  play  roller  hockey?”      Right  as  he  was  passing  me,  he  stopped  abruptly  and  hopped  off  of  his  board.  “Wait,  what?!  How  did  you  know?  Do  you  play?”  I  told  him  the  shirt  kind  of  gave  it  away.  After  talking  to  him  for  a  minute  or  two,  I  found  out  that  the  kid  wearing  a  roller  hockey  company’s  shirt  didn’t  even  know  our  school  had  a  roller  hockey  team.  He  ended  up  trying  out  and  the  rest  is  history.      There  are  over  1500  student  athletes  that  are  part  of  100  or  so  college  roller  hockey  programs  across  the  country.  I  figured  there  were  more  stories  to  tell  that  were  a  heck  of  a  bit  more  interesting  than  mine.  Here’s  a  few  of  the  ones  we  were  able  to  hunt  down.                                              

All  Roads  Lead  to  Roller    

       

 Wes  Fry  had  never  played  organized  roller  hockey  before.  His  best  friend  and  Phoenix  Jr.  Coyotes  ice  hockey  teammate  Stetson  Dircks  had  grown  up  playing  both  sports  but  focused  solely  on  ice  after  middle  school.  In  the  fall  of  2014,  Stetson  decided  he  would  give  roller  another  shot  at  Arizona  State  University  –  which  meant  Wes  would  be  giving  it  his  first  shot.  Around  the  same  time,  Lyndsey  Fry  was  back  at  Harvard  University  for  her  senior  year,  a  few  months  removed  from  her  experience  with  Team  USA  at  the  2014  Olympics  in  Sochi.      The  following  spring,  Wes  Fry  and  his  ASU  teammates  embarked  on  their  trip  to  Missouri  for  last  year’s  2015  NCRHA  National  Championships.  Lyndsey  Fry  was  getting  ready  to  graduate  from  Harvard.  A  few  weeks  removed  from  leading  her  Crimson  team  all  the  way  to  the  final  game  at  the  DI  NCAA  Women’s  National  Championships,  and  a  much-­‐needed  surgery,  she  hobbled  onto  a  plane  with  her  parents  to  surprise  her  brother  at  his  tournament  and  cheer  him  on,  just  as  he  had  done  in  Sochi  and  in  her  years  at  Harvard.    As  the  puck  dropped  on  the  Sun  Devils’  first  game,  the  Fry  family  started  cheering  in  the  stands.  Wes  looked  up  to  see  it  was  his  family  who  was  cheering.  His  sister  had  orchestrated  the  whole  thing.  Throughout  the  week  in  Missouri,  Lyndsey  got  to  know  the  guys  on  her  brother’s  team.  They  would  joke,  “so  are  you  playing  next  season  or  what?”  From  the  stands,  Fry  watched  her  brother  and  his  team  intently.  “I  can  definitely  play  with  these  guys,”  she  thought  to  herself.      “Wes  was  always  my  biggest  fan  and  my  rock,  and  (after  that  week  in  Missouri)  I  knew  I  wanted  to  fully  dive  into  this.”  So  she  did,  spending  the  weeks  that  followed  the  tournament  looking  into  the  classes  she  would  take,  the  rehab  necessary  to  get  back  to  full  strength  after  her  injury,  and  eventually  getting  onto  the  tile  at  the  end  of  the  summer.      After  trying  out  for  the  team  and  a  few  months  of  practices,  Lyndsey  Fry  suited  up  alongside  her  brother  Wes  for  her  first  collegiate  roller  hockey  game  last  October.  She’s  appreciated  the  support  her  teammates  have  given  her  along  the  way.  “It’s  been  humbling,”  she  said,  explaining  that  roller  hockey’s  nuances  gave  her  a  challenge  that  helped  her  stay  driven  to  get  better.    The  Fry  family  has  been  in  the  stands  supporting  Lyndsey,  Wes  and  the  rest  of  the  ASU  team  at  every  single  game  this  season.        One  year  after  Lyndsey  Fry  hobbled  into  the  stands  on  crutches  to  watch  her  brother  Wes  play  at  the  NCRHA  National  Championships,  they’ll  both  get  to  make  a  run  for  a  title.  Together.      “It’s  going  to  be  just  another  great  experience.  I  wouldn’t  want  to  do  it  with  any  other  team.”              

All  Roads  Lead  to  Roller    

       

 Mia  Becker  walked  into  her  Materials  Science  Engineering  class  this  past  fall,  her  first  semester  at  the  University  of  Tennessee.  After  spending  two  years  attending  Boston  University  and  stopping  pucks  for  their  NCAA  Division  I  team,  the  Virginia  native  decided  she  wanted  a  change  of  scenery,  and  would  leave  hockey  behind  to  focus  on  another  passion  and  her  future  career,  engineering.  Just  because  she  was  done  playing  didn’t  mean  she  couldn’t  throw  all  of  her  stuff  for  class  in  a  Shattuck  St.  Mary’s  backpack  from  her  years  of  prep  school  hockey  in  Minnesota.      Austin  Gomez  knows  the  game  hockey  well  enough  to  know  that  Shattuck  St.  Mary’s  is  arguably  the  best  prep  school  for  hockey  in  the  United  States.  He  also  loves  playing  roller  hockey,  representing  his  school  and  the  challenge  of  trying  to  field  a  team  that  can  make  a  run  for  a  national  title.  “Anytime  I’m  talking  to  someone  at  school  and  they  have  an  interest  in  hockey,  I  try  to  get  them  to  come  out  and  play,  just  to  have  fun  and  stuff,”  he  told  me.  So  naturally,  when  he  spotted  a  girl  in  his  Materials  Science  Engineering  class  with  an  SSM  Hockey  backpack,  he  wasn’t  going  to  pass  up  a  chance  to  try  to  add  a  talented  player  to  the  Tennessee  Volunteers  Roller  Hockey  team.    “I  just  went  up  and  started  talking  to  her  about  hockey  and  told  her  about  the  team.  She  was  really  hesitant,  but  somehow  I  convinced  her  to  come  out  and  practice  with  us  just  one  time  to  see  if  she  would  like  it,”  Gomez  said,  recalling  what  seemed  like  a  shot  in  the  dark  at  the  time.      When  Mia  Becker  came  out  to  practice  for  the  first  time,  she  wasn’t  sure  what  to  expect.  Playing  well  enough  to  impress  a  team  that  would  benefit  from  having  another  goalie,  especially  a  talented  one,  along  with  hitting  it  off  with  Gomez  and  the  rest  of  the  team  was  enough  to  keep  her  interested.  “All  of  the  guys  were  great  and  I  had  fun,  so  I  decided  to  keep  skating  with  them,”  she  said.  After  suiting  up  at  practice  with  the  team  through  the  end  of  the  fall  semester,  she  played  her  first  games  this  Spring.      With  a  goalie  wearing  white  and  red  BU  pads  between  the  pipes,  the  Volunteers  went  on  to  win  the  SECRHL  Division  II  title  and  are  hoping  to  make  a  deep  run  at  Nationals.  Becker’s  excited  about  the  opportunity  to  compete  for  a  title,  but  ready  to  have  some  fun  playing  in  front  of  her  family  with  her  new  team  and  friends  in  front  of  her.      Gomez,  when  asked  about  college  roller  hockey,  concluded,  “the  friendships  formed  are  strong,  and  they’re  bonded  by  the  love  of  the  sport.  Even  people  that  you’ve  just  met...  they’re  instantly  friends,”  mentioning  that  he  can’t  wait  to  see  the  guys  he  became  friends  with  at  last  year’s  Nationals.      As  for  Becker,  she’s  banking  on  a  four  legged  member  of  the  squad  to  help  her  and  the  rest  of  the  Volunteers  make  some  new  friends.  “Oh,  Levi?  He’s  basically  our  mascot,  you’ll  meet  him  at  Natty’s.”        

All  Roads  Lead  to  Roller    

       

 Tommy  Potts  moved  into  his  Bethel  University  dorm  in  the  fall  of  2014  ready  to  begin  both  freshman  year  and  his  collegiate  baseball  career.  He  had  received  a  scholarship  to  play  baseball  for  the  Wildcats  and  jumped  at  the  opportunity.  The  rest  of  the  guys  living  on  Tommy’s  dorm  floor  were  all  members  of  the  roller  hockey  team.  After  getting  to  know  a  bunch  of  the  guys  in  the  dorm,  he  quickly  became  friends  with  them.  When  they  weren’t  busy  with  hockey  or  classes,  they  were  hanging  out.      Life  on  the  diamond  didn’t  seem  to  live  up  to  the  expectations  that  Potts  had  for  his  college  experience,  so  he  went  to  his  baseball  coach  and  asked  if  there  was  a  way  he  would  be  able  to  keep  his  scholarship  if  he  quit  the  team  and  stayed  involved  with  another  sport  on  campus.  The  coach  told  him  he  would  see  what  he  could  do.  The  Chicago  native  figured  if  the  scholarship  situation  worked  out,  he  would  try  roller  hockey.      Keep  in  mind  Tommy  Potts  had  never  played  a  single  shift  of  hockey.  Anywhere.      Well,  the  scholarship  situation  worked  out,  and  Potts  was  welcomed  into  the  Bethel  Roller  Hockey  program.  Potts  spent  his  freshman  year  serving  as  Bethel’s  team  manager,  learning  more  about  the  sport,  while  practicing  with  the  team  and  soaking  in  as  much  floor  time  as  possible  up  until  the  school  year  ended.      Fast  forward  to  last  fall  -­‐-­‐  Potts  returned  to  Bethel  to  keep  his  dream  alive.  His  scholarship  was  still  intact.  With  the  support  of  the  entire  program,  Potts  earned  a  roster  spot  and  spent  hours  working  towards  becoming  a  player  that  deserved  playing  time.  Cody  Bryant,  his  friend  and  roommate,  talked  about  how  it  all  worked:  “His  first  semester  was  a  little  rough,  but  keep  in  mind  this  was  all  new  to  Tommy.  We  all  took  turns  working  with  him  to  master  the  basics.”    After  getting  some  playing  time  and  improving  during  the  fall,  Potts  was  ready  to  show  what  he  could  do  in  the  spring.  He  felt  more  comfortable  on  his  skates  and  more  confident  on  the  floor  in  game  situations.  The  hours  of  hard  work  put  in  by  Potts  and  so  many  of  his  teammates  had  finally  paid  off  when  he  scored  his  first  goal.  “The  guys  have  all  accepted  me  and  helped  me  to  improve  my  game  as  much  as  possible,”  Potts  stated,  expressing  his  gratitude  for  his  coaches  and  teammates.      “This  isn’t  a  one-­‐time  thing,”  said  Bryant;  Potts  intends  on  continuing  with  the  roller  hockey  program  at  Bethel  as  he  pursues  his  degree.    “Not  everyone  can  throw  on  blades  and  play  college  roller  hockey,  but  Tommy  did  and  still  is.  There’s  no  question  he’ll  keep  working  towards  getting  better  so  he  can  keep  playing.”      So  what’s  the  craziest  part  of  this  whole  journey  for  Tommy  Potts?  “I  can  now  say  that  I  am  a  collegiate  roller  hockey  player,”  he  said,  just  a  kid  who  was  falling  in  love  with  the  game  for  the  first  time,  playing  with  his  best  friends.    

All  Roads  Lead  to  Roller    

       

       All  roads  lead  to  College  Roller  Hockey.  But  why  do  they  all  end  up  leading  to  college  roller  hockey?    Well,  ASU’s  Lyndsey  Fry  and  Hunter  Stafford  of  Arkansas  had  a  few  final  thoughts.      Fry:  “Roller  has  that  sort  of  atmosphere  around  it.  You  could  see  that  (at  Nationals)  with  the  teams  supporting  each  other.  It’s  fun  to  play  hard  but  also  laugh  and  have  a  good  time.  This  is  competitive  and  we  want  to  win  but  there’s  no  secret  we’re  there  to  have  a  lot  of  fun.  There’s  a  reason  that  we  all  make  the  sacrifice,  commit  our  time  to  it,  to  be  there.      Stafford:  “The  league  is  competitive,  we  go  on  the  floor  and  skate  hard  but  when  we’re  done  we  leave  that  on  the  floor  and  we  hang  out  with  the  other  teams.  We’ve  become  friends  with  guys  from  all  over  the  place.  The  Akron  guys,  the  Tennessee  guys,  the  ASU  guys,  I  talk  to  those  guys  every  other  week.  We  stay  in  touch  through  social  media,  we  text  and  we  talk  about  how  the  season’s  going.  I’m  excited  for  Nationals.  We  get  to  go  play  some  really  good  hockey  but  we  get  to  see  our  old  friends  and  make  some  new  ones  too.  That’s  just  the  environment  roller  hockey  provides  you  with.”        That’s  what  I  love  about  Roller  Hockey.  That’s  what  I  love  about  this  league.      That’s  what  I  love  about  Nationals.          If  you  think  you’ve  got  a  good  story,  email  us  at  ncrhacoast2coast@gmail.com  or  if  you’re  on  Twitter,  tweet  us  @ncrha_c2c.  The  best  submissions  will  get  some  attention.      Kevin  Smith  plays  for  Arizona  State  University  and  is  a  co-­‐founder  of  NCRHA  Coast  2  Coast,  an  independent  organization  made  up  of  current  and  former  players  covering  league  news  and  working  with  to  grow  the  college  roller  hockey  community  and  the  sport  of  roller  hockey.  For  more  on  C2C,  visit  NCRHA.org.