By Markus Cueva
It?s 7:30 a.m. and a college hockey team is just finishing up an early morning practice.
There are a few pauses ? just enough time for the coach to give some in-structions and draw out some plays on a white board ? before the players get back to work on another drill.
It is a scene that is replicated by countless other college teams every day, except these players aren?t get-ting athletic scholarships. The last time they were on the ice was after midnight, just one day ago.
Welcome to the BYU hockey team.
The fact that BYU has an ice hockey team may come as a shock to some, probably because the team plays in the American Collegiate Hockey Association. The hockey squad, like rugby and lacrosse, is a club team and is not part of the NCAA. This means it doesn?t enjoy some of the perks that other college athletes enjoy, such as funding from BYU.
This puts the financial burden on the players. Senior Jeremy Weiss said it costs the players $1,200 a season just to play. This cost includes fees to practice and play home games at Peaks Ice Arena in Provo, where the team pays $10,000 a season for its locker room, as well as busing and hotels for away games. It does not include equipment.
Kasey Welsh, 25, said most players pay up to $500 just for a pair of skates, in addition to the myriad pads, gloves, helmets and other necessities each player requires. Add in the three or four hockey sticks that players go through each season, which 23-year-old Ryan Newton says will cost around $150 each, and you have a lot of expense.
The team also has a unique practice schedule. Some players don?t get home from the Monday night practice until close to 2 a.m. Tuesday morn-ing. They will be at their next practice at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Newton said the players just have to get used to the schedule.
?That?s why we play, because we love the game,? Newton said. ?Most college students don?t get enough sleep anyways.?
The financial and time constraints can put a greater strain on players such as Weiss and Welsh, who are both mar-ried. Weiss, who is affectionately called ?Grandpa? by some of his teammates, has to balance hockey with being a husband and father.
?I?d be lying if I said my wife hasn?t been really helpful and supportive,? Weiss said. ?If she wasn?t, it wouldn?t work out.?
The schedule is especially difficult for Weiss because of his 30-minute commute from South Jordan, mean-ing he does not get home from the Monday night practices until after 2:30 a.m.
The players are hopeful changes may come for their team. Welsh said he hopes the All-Sport Pass could ex-pand to include the club teams, with a cut of the earnings to be distributed among them.
Newton said the contracts that BYU carries with several sports equipment manufacturers could ease the team?s equipment costs. These solutions are highly unlikely, though, and the club teams with modest attendance num-bers continue to struggle.
But how do you get more people to the games? Goalie Blake Hannesson, 19, said he can tell fans are supportive of the team, but without an estab-lished hockey fan base in Utah, it?s difficult for more people just to jump into the sport. Some people won?t give it a chance.
?I?ve never brought anybody to a hockey game that, after they left, weren?t hooked on it,? Hannesson said.
Some aspects of hockey are a little different for some people. Unusual practices such as fighting during games can also make hockey hard to understand, but Hanneson said fight-ing is about strategy and tactics, not barbaric fist fighting.
The next home game will be Feb. 20 and the team is hoping for a few more fans in the stands.
?We want to represent the school to the best of our abilities,? said Nathan Hymas, 23-year-old defenseman. ?That means everything to us.?
