In relative invisibility to many people, tucked away at the Epic Center in Williamsville, N.Y. is where a Buffalo sports team that is perennially a national power house practices on a weekly basis: UB's Club Roller Hockey team.
The Buffalo Wings have been highly successful since their conception in 1998. In its first two seasons, the Wings won back-to-back league championships and have traveled to the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association National Championships four times. Their most recent trip to the national tournament was last season when they lost to Lindenwood in the Sweet 16.
Yet, with all of these accolades, the Wings are unknown to the vast majority of the student population. This is mainly the result of the team not having a suitable facility to be able to hold its own tournaments, and it must travel around the nation to play its games.
"A lot of people think its intramural roller hockey," said B team captain senior Ryan Kelly. "But we go on travel tournaments and play other schools like Rutgers, Maryland, Penn State, all big name schools all throughout the country."
These various tournaments have taken the Wings across the East Coast to places such as Philadelphia and Long Island and have also landed them as far away as Colorado and California. All the travel has allowed the players to go places that normally they wouldn't be able to go.
"It's a great experience," said senior A team captain Steven Ostro. "We're a fun group of guys. The weekends are great. When we went to California we were on the beach every single day. In Raleigh, N.C. after every team would get eliminated, they would go downtown to the bars and that was a lot of fun. It's good to see all over the Northeast, too."
But although the Wings' players enjoy being able to travel away from home, it also has its downfalls. Since all the games are played on the road, very few fans attend their games and this has hurt the team in its ability to gain recognition on-campus.
"All our friends want to come out and watch but they can't always travel," Kelly said. "Sometimes our parents will make a trip or two or maybe someone will be there with one of their friends once in a while, but we really don't have many fans in the stands."
Lack of fan support is just one of the negatives of playing every game on the road. The team is also not immune to all the typical hang ups of constant travel including its drain on the players' pocket books and bodies.
"We're the furthest school at every single tournament," Ostro said. "The wear and tear of driving six hours for every tournament before getting to the hotel kind of hurts us. It kills your legs from sitting that long. It's also a big disadvantage funds wise having to get a hotel every weekend."
Being short on money is another issue that the Wings often must deal with. With no real exposure to UB's student body, the funding they receive from the Student Association does not completely cover the team's operating costs such as rink fees. The difference is made up by the combination of money from the players themselves and through fundraising.
The team itself is broken down into three squads: an A, B and an intramural team. The A squad plays in the Division I one the Eastern Collegiate Roller Hockey Association in the Central Conference while the B squad plays in the ECRHA's B Division in the Northern Conference.
The Wings have around 50 students try out for the team each year. Even still with three squads to play on, they are still forced to make tough decisions on its personnel. Regardless of the outcome, the Wings like to keep as many people a part of their family as possible.
"Our club has the most fun," Ostro said. "Although we're as competitive as you can get, we try to have as much fun as possible. We all hang out together. It's great as a freshman because you have a great group of guys to hang out with right away. We try to do things to bring the group together and be more than just a team."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
