Image courtesy of USF Hockey.
By Vanessa Wenzl
Little known to many sports fans, the “Ice Bulls” are the University of South Florida’s Sports Club Hockey team on campus.
This season opened up with defeats by Florida Atlantic University and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University on the road, followed by the home opener victory on Saturday Sept. 24.
Players and staff hope to take this club to a higher level as fans fill the arenas with support and dedication to the team.
Tyler Moss, the operations manager of the team, was one of those dedicated fans before coming on board with the team.
“I saw attendance jump up and jumped down and I was curious as to why it was such a niche thing for how much of an enjoyment, I gained out of it,” Moss said in an interview with The Crow’s Nest.
Moss shares a love for the sport from both sides of the net.
“The passion I have behind it captured me when I first started going and I know for any other hockey enthusiast or just fan of USF, it’ll capture them as well.”
As the team continues to grow, it has shown its consistent competitiveness. The team has gone to nationals and landed spots in the conference championships.
Creating an NCAA southern hockey conference would be the next big step, but it would take more than just USF to advance to that level.
As the Ice Bulls play Florida universities in their conference, it will also have southern opponents like the University of Tennessee.
Goals off the ice are to grow the club to an official NCAA sport, similarly to USF’s women’s lacrosse team has in recent years.
“Essentially, there’s stepping stones to grow into an NCAA program,” Moss said. “There’s steps and layers to getting to that point, with hockey being a growing sport, especially in this bay area, and a lot of commitment to growing hockey as a whole here.”
Many of the team’s players have been committed to the sport from a young age.
Sophomore Max Morris has been playing hockey since he was three years old. Morris is from Buffalo, N.Y. He follows in his father’s footsteps of playing division I hockey.
“I know I’m going to work hard and have fun,” Morris said. “Hopefully, I win faceoffs and score some goals.”
Fans can keep with the team on Facebook, Instagram, and X (formally Twitter) before the next home game on Saturday, Oct. 28 against the University of Tampa at Advent Health Center Ice in Wesley Chapel.
