Liberty offers many sports, however, hockey isn’t one of them. In fact, no schools in the state of Iowa have a school hockey team, and many think this is because of low numbers or funding. Despite this, high school hockey players in Iowa still find a way to play their sport.
Kai Patton (he/him), 11, is a defenseman for the Cedar Rapids Roughriders High School Hockey Club. He notes the lack of high-level competition or recognition in Iowa compared to other states.
“I have had thoughts or wishes to move to a state like Wisconsin or Minnesota that has hockey offered through the school,” said Patton. “And in Iowa, there’s just not enough growth right now.”
Ben Kaczka (he/him), 12, is a player on the Junior Heartlanders High School Hockey Club. He has not considered moving states for hockey but thinks the competition in Iowa isn’t at the highest level.
“My team had to go to Illinois to play for our Double A level because a lot of teams in Iowa that we could play were not as good as the other states,” said Kaczka.
While other sports in high school have a big student section and tons of support from their peers, it seems that these hockey players aren’t seeing the same support. In other midwestern states, the sport of hockey provides a sense of culture and identity for high schools. Comparable to Friday night football in the state of Iowa, hockey draws crowds, student sections and excitement in states like Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin.
“It definitely feels like there is something missing. Going to football games and seeing the turnout from the school as audience members, it makes me wish I had that with hockey,” said Patton.
Despite the lack of support from other students, these hockey players are able to build connections with their team in other ways.
“A benefit to not playing a sport in school is that there’s more involvement with parents. Most of our behind-the-scenes work comes from team parents, and I think I just get closer with everyone because of it,” said Patton.
The transportation to hockey practices and games also helps these players get closer to each other. Both Kaczka and Patton both say they carpool and/or ride charter buses to their games. This helps them both get closer with their teams and grow those connections they otherwise may not have had.
Playing hockey outside of school can be a large time commitment.
“In each week during the regular season, it would be roughly seven to ten hours a week, not including any of the games we play,” said Patton.
Kaczka also discussed the amount of time he spends playing hockey.
“Usually, we’d have three to four practices and two games a week. So I’d put that around 10-12 hours a week, which seems like a lot,” said Kaczka.
Although hockey is often overlooked in Iowa, these players are still finding clubs to play in and putting in work behind-the-scenes. As the sport continues to evolve in the state of Iowa, hockey players and teams hope to see an uptick in interest across the state.
