Students at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln are breaking the ice for some sports on campus and running their own organizations through the Campus Recreation Center.
One of Campus Recreation’s club teams, men’s hockey, just kicked off its season and is setting out to make another national tournament.
Campus Recreation offers a variety of club sports and intramural sports for students who want to keep competing.
The hockey team keeps a busy season schedule. The team is either at John Breslow Ice Hockey Center or on the road most weekends through the end of February. They compete as a Division III club team in the Mid-American Collegiate Hockey Association for conference play in the national organization the American Collegiate Hockey Association. The team played in the national tournament in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022 and won conference championships in 2018 and 2019.
Around 10% of the team’s budget comes from the Campus Recreation Center, and the other 90% the team provides themselves through dues and fundraising. Their facility at Breslow also holds other campus recreation events, including other club teams and public events like open skating.
Reed Fuller, head coach and 2011 Nebraska grad, said team members show an incredible amount of dedication. The team practices three nights a week. Officers are responsible for finding hotels, travel arrangements and other finances.
“These guys make all the decisions, they handle all the finances, determine what’s going to cost what,” Fuller said. “They decide where we’re going to stay, how we’re going to get there, where we’re going to go.”
Most of the members of the team have been playing since they were small, some as young as 4 years old, and the club gave them a way to keep playing competitively for a few more years.
Caden Davis, secretary and senior finance major from Pierre, South Dakota, started playing when he was 7 or 8. He already knew he wanted to enroll at Nebraska, but when he then learned about Husker Hockey, it cemented his decision.
“I didn’t want to give it up,” Davis said. “There were a lot of people on my team and in my league who were giving it up and going to college and I did not want to do that.”
Evan Detina, president and senior agribusiness major from the Chicago area, said being able to play against other universities for another four years was a good opportunity to keep competing and build camaraderie with teammates.
“I want to hang out in that as long as I can,” Detina said.
He said the environment at Breslow during a game feels electric to him and fan reaction makes it exciting. Detina said hundreds of people attended the first home match last season, packing the Breslow and creating a good environment for the team.
“Big hits, they’re going nuts,” Detina said. “Goals, they’re going nuts. It’s fun to see that many people come out to watch you play.”
Davis said hockey is fast-paced with little dead time, which he thinks makes the sport exciting to watch.
The team has traveled to places like Oklahoma, Missouri, Ohio and Arkansas. The time spent together as well as competing alongside each other is a chance to form lifelong bonds. Some of the players knew each other before arriving in Lincoln and might have even played against each other in the past, but the team cements those relationships.
Nate Weber, a junior accounting and finance major from the Chicago area, said he chose Nebraska for academic reasons but being able to share these experiences with teammates is special.
“Other than just hockey, having 40 friends instantly has been amazing as well,” Weber said.
Fuller said it’s fulfilling to see the players foster those friendships because the players will carry those friendships forward as they get older and possibly move back closer to their hometowns.
“They’re are going to go their different ways but they’re going to have this connection,” Fuller said. “It’s a really fulfilling thing as a coach.”
Fuller said it also means a lot to him to see the players interact with the community. They’ve held youth hockey camps and hosted themed nights to raise money for military and cancer organizations by auctioning custom jerseys.
“These guys make a difference wherever they go,” Fuller said.
Membership has nearly doubled in the last few years, and Weber said they hope to eventually field two teams and move up to Division II club. Fuller said it’s rewarding to see how the program has grown since his days as a player.
“The sky’s the limit in terms of where these guys are going to take this in the next year or two,” Fuller said.
Detina, a four-year member of the team, said one of his favorite things to witness is the excitement and interest when they meet new potential members before each season starts.
“You can almost see the excitement on their faces there,” he said. “It’s awesome to see how the word spreads and how many people like hockey as much as we do.”
Davis said while he is looking forward to bus trips and getting to share their strengths with others from around the country, the team’s aim is to make it to another national tournament at the end of the season.
“Nationals is obviously the top goal,” he said. “It’s a serious environment. I say I’m looking forward to it because we are going to make it. Right now, I’m calling it.”
