2015 valpo hockey

[Valpo_Hockey]

Hey guys,

Just wanted to get the word out about the VU hockey team that will begin having games in the fall. All supporters are welcome to visit our FB page (Facebook.com/ValpoHockey) for ticket information, purchasing jersey and T-shirt information, team updates, and a general area to discuss the team with other fans. We will have a team website up shortly, be patient with us. We hope to see you all at the rink this fall.

Thanks.

[valpotx]

That's pretty cool, where will the club team play?  Also, what schools will you be playing each year?

[Valpo_Hockey]

The University is designing a rink at the current moment, until that is finished with, the team will be playing in South Bend. The team will be competing in the ICHC which began play this year which features Purdue, IU, and Ball State. Other teams that Valpo will be playing include the University of Iowa, University of Illinois, University of Michigan, Northern Illinois, Holy Cross, Augustana, to name a few. Scheduling will vary year to year.

[vu72]

This is some sort of joke.  Where will they play if the weather is above freezing??   

[Donjon VU07]

This is some sort of joke.  Where will they play if the weather is above freezing??   

A quick Google search tells me Valpo's high school hockey plays at an indoor rink in South Bend.  That might be your answer. (Edit: Valpo_Hockey already said this.)

Valpo_Hockey:
If this is serious--and if it happens--let us know.  I'll be first in line for a jersey.

[Valpofan00]

This is actually pretty cool. When would the rink be finished and where would it be located?

[a3uge]

Valpo actually had a club team that shut down in 2006. Brett Calland was the faculty advisor for the team (don't know if he's still around). The problem always will be the lack of rink in the area. Traveling 45min-1hr for practices is rough for many students, and since freshman can't have cars, this eliminates a chunk of potential players.

I'll believe the rink when I see it. It took us 25 years to get a track laid down. But maybe that's the $2 million "gymnasium project" we saw online a couple weeks ago :p

[FWalum]

I guess these sites are for real, but wouldn't we have heard something if VU or a local group, to which we might have access, was going to build or even in the process of designing an ice rink?   
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Collegiate_Hockey_Conference
https://www.facebook.com/ICHCHockey?ref=stream

[Valpo_Hockey]

Mock up Jersey design is posted on the FB page. This is serious. We will be in Fort Wayne Friday scouting players. And in Indy next weekend.

[Valpo_Hockey]

The rink is still early in the process. The plan currently is to place it in the hospital property acquisition.

[a3uge]

Hockey uniforms for Valpo would be interesting. I had my hands on the old club-team jersey and it used black stripes and the old V script logo. The Bruins actually wore a brown and gold uniform for the winter classic a couple years back:



Problem with the Brown and Gold is that brown pant shells/helmets are going to be hard and more expensive, but black will pair with anything. I think just using the shield would look awesome on a hockey jersey. Gold unis with brown accents are probably a better bet than brown unis with gold accents.

[historyman]

Here is the Valpo high school hockey club that plays on a rink in South Bend.





http://www.valpohockey.com/

https://www.google.com/maps/place/The+Ice+Box/@41.65971,-86.272233,13z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x88113327456f72bd:0x8382add4c3298533


I heard that Jim Gaffigan's nephew from Chesterton once played on this club because Jim actually showed up for one of the games when he was doing a show in the area.

Looks like this club plays other club teams from NW Indiana (at the Midwest Ice Center in Dyer), South Bend area (Ice Box in SB), Ft Wayne area (Canlan Ice Sports near Coliseum & Lima Rd) and Indy area (The Forum in Fishers). Most games are played in South Bend.

[covufan]

When I was in HS in the early 80's, the HS teams also played games at Notre Dame. 

If Valpo is putting in an ice rink, I'm sure they will not have much trouble getting local teams signed up for ice time - some at very odd hours.

[Kyle321n]

This is awesome! I will definitely be in line to get a jersey. Once the rink is build in Valpo I'll get season tickets for sure, but until then a weekend game or two in South Bend (quite a trek for a weeknight) will suffice.

[okinawatyphoon]

This is exciting! But it's a club team, right? We're not talking NCAA...?

[valpo64]

I believe that IPFW has started as hockey program that should be in full swing next year.

[Valpo_Hockey]

This is exciting! But it's a club team, right? We're not talking NCAA...?

Once the arena is built the plan is to go NCAA.

[valpotx]

In speaking with the Valpo representative in town this week, it still sounded like the hospital property is being used for a field house for many sports to share.  As much as I would love to see NCAA hockey at Valpo, where does the increased athletic budget come from to support men's and women's teams?  We couldn't just add men's hockey, as we would run into Title IX issues regarding scholarships and athletic opportunities for women.

[vu72]

In speaking with the Valpo representative in town this week, it still sounded like the hospital property is being used for a field house for many sports to share.  As much as I would love to see NCAA hockey at Valpo, where does the increased athletic budget come from to support men's and women's teams?  We couldn't just add men's hockey, as we would run into Title IX issues regarding scholarships and athletic opportunities for women.

So did he confirm that there will be a rink built somewhere on campus? Or even if it is being discussed?  He certainly would know.

[classof2014]

If Valpo ever want to have a lasting hockey program a rink has to be built in the city itself. Players aren't gonna want to go to Valpo for hockey if it means travelling an hour each way to every practice. The logistics of it doesn't make sense, it'll cost a lot of money either by the school for travel or from the expense of the players travelling to practice. Not to mention it takes a 12th of the day to travel which gives less time to work on their education.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see a hockey program at Valpo but if there isn't a rink it won't last.

[a3uge]

The new athletics center could very well include an ice rink inside - for example, Milwaukee School of Engineering built the Kern Center for $30 million and included a rink in the basement. It is certainly utilized by more than the university (I used to play there in high school).

I looked up where some of the other teams in that conference play; Purdue seems to play well over an hour away in Fishers, IN, which is a suburb of Indianapolis. There's definitely a lack of ice rinks in Indiana, and they don't seem to be all that profitable. Ice rinks drain money because have high insurance costs and maintenance fees. I'm surprised that the university would want to operate such thing, but if they can break even by renting it out to Valpo area kids that right now drive to South Bend for youth hockey, well, why not?

[Valpo_Hockey]

The proposed design includes 2 sheets of ice and 5k seating capacity.

[vu72]

The proposed design includes 2 sheets of ice and 5k seating capacity.

[vu72]

Duneland potential hot spot for sports complexes, study says
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By JEFF SCHULTZ
Areas around the Toll Rd exit and the I-94 exit on Ind. 49 were identified as optional sites to build supportable outdoor complexes in Porter County's Sports Feasibility Analysis released during Tuesday's County Board of Commissioners' meeting.
Bill Krueger, principal with Conventions, Sports and Leisure (CSL) of Minneapolis presented the findings of the study to a standing room crowd with help from members from the County Tourism Bureau and Sports Cabinet. The Commissioners hired CSL in 2013 to see what economic impact could be achieved by building sports and recreation facilities.
Sitting in on the meeting were representatives from Chesterton High School Athletics, the Porter County Parks Department, Valparaiso Parks Department, Valpo Athletics and various sports clubs.
Porter County is more fortunate than most communities with a strong population base to draw people from miles around for regional tournaments, Krueger said. It is within driving distance of Chicago, Indianapolis, Louisville and Detroit.
"You are positioned very well," Krueger told the Commissioners. "Transportation access for recreational and amateur sports in Porter County is key to viability."
But the County is lacking in indoor aquatic facilities and high quality outdoor fields in one area needed to have a marketable tournament destination. The most popular outdoor activities included baseball/softball and basketball, while swimming was the most dominant indoor sport.
To determine what the market demand is for Porter County, CSL conducted interviews with representatives of sports and non-profit groups, municipal government representatives and local sports users. The facilities in the greatest need which can generate the most economic impact, according to the analysis, are a state-of-the-are natatorium and baseball/softball complex facilities.
Having an appropriate amount of acreage to assemble a facility and infrastructure, the four preliminary site locations for an outdoor complex -- featuring high quality baseball/softball fields and multipurpose soccer/football fields -- included the 177 acres in Portage north of the I-94 and Ind. 249 intersection, the 130 acres behind the Duneland Schools bus garage abutting the Toll Road, the Duneland Economic Development Commission site owned by Lake Erie Land Company on Ind. 49 and I-94 close to the Indiana Dunes State Park and National Lakeshore, and 117 acres near the headquarters of Urschel Laboratories in Coffee Creek Center.
The construction of an outdoor complex would cost about $17 million but Krueger predicts that if done right and as a public/private venture, the economic output could be $38.2 million or so, a benefit-to-cost ratio of $42.41 per County dollar spent. County officials may decide to use money from the hospital sale proceeds or other options on a pay-as-you-go basis without issuing debt, the report said.
One option to consider is a public/private partnership, where a public entity such as the County would own the venue to be leased and operated by a private entity, such as Ripken Sports Complex in Myrtle Beach, Fla. Or, the complex could be owned by a public entity and leased and operated by a sports-related non-profit organization, Krueger said.
Meanwhile, the only identifiable location for a natatorium that the study produced was Valparaiso University's "3D" site. One route for development the study suggests is to have the natatorium be operated and owned by the university, assembled and constructed by the County with the intent that the pool be open to non-university groups and users. Construction costs could be substantially funded through sponsorship opportunities.
.
A natatorium could be produced outside of the university and be open primarily to high schools, local clubs and meets. The majority of construction costs, estimated Krueger recommended the pool be Olympic sized with 10 lanes and the arena should be about 60,000 square feet, similar to the Indianapolis University Natatoriumat $18 million, would fall under a public entity with a typical annual operating deficit of approximately $400,000, Krueger said.
Commissioner President John Evans, R-North, thanked CSL for their efforts and said that County officials will examine the "wealth of information" the study provides but there is "not enough money to go around" on the County's end to fund construction of all the facilities suggested.
The Commissioners in June 2013 agreed to pay for the sports study coupled with a separate feasibility study for the Expo Center at $134,000 with County Economic Development Income Tax dollars.
A copy of the full 157-page study can be found on the Porter County Government website, www.porterco.org, or at http://www.indianadunes.com/assets/porter-county-sports-facilities-study-2015-01-14.pdf.
Hockey rinks left in the cold?
Evans allowed the audience a few minutes to ask questions, which prompted some to express shock that the study did not make strong recommendations on building a hockey rink, contending there is unquestionable demand.
Chesterton resident John Gregurich said youth are having to travel to indoor hockey arenas in Illinois and South Bend to practice hockey because there are no facilities in Porter County.
Gregurich said a few years ago at a Porter County Parks public input event, hockey and ice skating topped a list of items of what amenities residents would like to have.
"There is a huge pent-up demand," Gregurich said.
Sports Cabinet member and Valparaiso resident Chuck Williams agreed there is strong interest in hockey and he has to drive his children twice a week to places outside the county for practice.
Krueger said there was a high interest reported for hockey and ice rinks but currently there is no way to gauge what the economic return would be since there are no such facilities in Porter County. That's why they are not featured in the study's cost analysis, he said.
County Park Board member Craig Kenworthy from the floor said he has high hopes that Porter County can have facilities to support regional tournaments. Residents here are traveling elsewhere and spending money outside of Porter County.
"If we build these things, we can keep that money here," Kenworthy said.


Posted 1/21/2015

[a3uge]

The proposed design includes 2 sheets of ice and 5k seating capacity.

This I will certainly believe when I see it. Did someone actually at the university say this? Seems like it's as feasible as this "Duneland Arena". This is the same university that took _years_ to build a track for a team that was already D1 and still hasn't addressed the needed seat upgrades at the ARC.