The Texas heat does not stop the hockey club from playing on the ice. The team is a group of students who know what hard work and dedication is all about. This year they are striving  to be their best and make this a successful season.

“So far our season’s been going decent,” junior Kendall Horn said. “We won our first game three to two.”

The team holds training sessions every Friday from 6:15 a.m. to 7:15 a.m., where they practice different activities to prepare for the season.

“Usually in practice we do drills with two on twos and sometimes one on ones,” Horn said. “For the last 20 to 25 minutes we usually scrimmage.”

The players have to make sure they are well prepared before a game. They try to be well rested, and as healthy as possible.

“I generally like to make sure I eat before all my games and that I’m hydrated,” Horn said.“This gives me lots of energy so I don’t get tired on the ice.”

Hockey is a team sport played in an ice rink that shares many similarities with soccer, such as the positions. Players have to defend a goal, while other teammates try to score into the other team’s goal.

“It’s like soccer on ice but with less people,” junior Alex Ma said. “You can play five on five, and with the goalies it becomes six on six.”

Some students choose to play travel hockey which is more competitive and requires players to travel to other cities and states for tournaments. Others choose to play for the club in order to not  miss much school.

“Time constrictions of junior year have put my grades on an impasse, so I had to choose between travel hockey and high school hockey,” Ma said.

The students try their best to balance their school work with hockey practice and games.

“The key is to just to work hard,” Horn said. “When I have practice I’ll try to get my homework done before game time.”

Many of the players have been playing hockey since they were little kids and have had hockey be a part of their lives for long time.

“I have been playing for ten years,” said senior Justin Piel. “I grew up with hockey and always dreamed of playing on the varsity team.”

The team allows anyone who is interested to join and play for the club, even if they have never had any previous experience.

“If you’re new and inexperienced, you probably start off on junior varsity,” Horn said. “You wouldn’t get as much playing time on varsity.”

Hockey teaches the players how to work hard and get rewarded for the amount of work you put in.

“You learn a lot about the value of earning what you work for,” Ma said. “The coach considers  how hard you work at the games and practices before he decides on if you’ll play.”

The members of the team get along well and are always supportive of each other whenever one of them needs encouragement.

“There are a lot of great guys who play and have played and we are all very close,” Piel said. “The coaches are great and so are the parents.”

Watching the team at play is definitely an interesting experience. The players encourage everyone to come out to the games and support them. They want to see their classmates engaged and having fun while they score.

“If anybody wants to come to our games, they should,” Horn said. “They sure would enjoy it. They’re really fun.”