Club Hockey at the University of Cincinnati is not a new idea. There has been a competitive club at the university as far back at 1970. The club has come and gone over the last 35 years. The current team will compete in its 5^th season this fall.

The Bearcats are members of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA), which according to USA Hockey is the country’s fastest growing segment of amateur ice hockey. There are more than 300 ACHA clubs nationwide, so we have not had any trouble at all assembling a competitive schedule.

ACHA hockey is for players who want organized, intercollegiate ice hockey to be part of their college experience. A ‘typical’ ACHA player has played at least five years of organized hockey and topped out at the Midget and/or High School level. A team may have one or two players with Junior B experience (and once in a while even Junior A), but by and large the ACHA player pool consists of people with youth hockey experience and coaching.

Those aren’t requirements, just guidelines. Teams do have productive players with little or no formal hockey experience; don’t let the paragraph above discourage you. It’s just designed to let you know the level of competition that the ACHA provides.

ACHA teams are self-funded with most teams getting at least some funding support from their schools. Our player fee for the 2006-07 season was roughly $750. Considering that we played a 30-game schedule (with 13 road games) and were on the ice for at least 35 practices, the player fee is a pretty good deal compared with many youth and high school programs.

Don’t let the cost deter you; we have developed a couple of fund-raising options for potential players who may need some assistance. By using these options a player could defer well over half of their player fees by volunteering their time for the club.

The 2007-08 schedule is now being formed. We are looking forward to competing with several new opponents this year including Holy Cross, IPUFW, and Lansing Community College. In addition to the regular schedule the Bearcats will be competing in a Florida tournament with the proceedes benefiting two children stricken with cancer.

If you are interested in becoming part of the UC hockey program, please let us know. The easies way to do this is to fill out the prospective player form located under prospects at the top of this page.

- Van Oler, Director of Hockey Operations