UT's Unknown Winners

Unknown to many students on campus, the University of Tampa has a new winning sports organization on its roster, and the sport they are dominating is none other than roller hockey. The UT roller hockey team has been up and running since 2006, and it was created with the help of UT alumni Brett Kotcher.

While it has only been in existence for the past 3 years, the team boasts some great records. For the past 2 years the team has made its way to the division II roller hockey nationals. Last year, the team finished in the top 8.

The captain, junior Jeff Kotcher, believes the team will make it once again this year. “We have some really good guys on the team this year,” said Kotcher. “We definitely have to step it up if we want to make it to nationals again, but given our past records, I think we will do it.”

Kotcher has been the captain for the past 2 years, and his brother, who graduated a few years previous, had originally started the team in 2006. With the torch passed down from one brother to the next, the Kotchers have been successful in leading the team to many a victory.

The UT roller hockey organization has had its share of struggles however. Being a new and rather unknown team has put the roller hockey team on the back burner when being considered for funding. The team has struggled to attain adequate funds from the school, and has been forced to look elsewhere to raise money for its benefit. Just this past weekend, the team held a fundraiser at Boss Hogs, a bar in downtown Tampa, in order to generate funds for the team and its ventures.

The members has had to spend a lot of its own personal money on hotels and means of travel when games are away. This is a sensitive subject for the team, whose members believe that it is just as much a sport as any other at UT.

The men of the team firmly believe that it should be taken more seriously. Jimmy Westwood, a junior, thinks that the team deserves better funding and recognition from the school. “We don’t get funding like other sports do, and we are doing better than a lot of the other teams,” said Westwood.

While they may not have many fans or adequate funds, the team has certainly done well in establishing its name. The team members all share a strong love for the game, and that passion along with their constantly practiced skills has gotten them to nationals these past 2 years.

Still though, the UT roller hockey team hopes to get its name out there, and get more people involved in the sport. Phil Gilchrist, a sophomore at UT and a member of the team since last year, loves the team and his fellow teammates and has high hopes for them. “Its been a great experience playing on the team, and I hope that we can get more people trying out and more people coming to games too,” said Gilchrist.

As the team is getting ready for the upcoming season, they have been practicing hard and often. With only 2 months until their first game in November, captain Kotcher has the team holding fundraisers and running plenty of drills in order to lead the team to nationals once again. The team hopes that people will show more support for their sport, and they will prove themselves year after year, succeeding in making UT roller hockey a well known force to be reckoned with.