By: Dionisio Garcia / Contributing Writer
From opening a law school, medical school and building a new football stadium, FIU has been rapidly expanding and creating new organizations over the past decade, including the creation of a brand new ice hockey team.
But this team is different from the normal teams on campus, they’re not sponsored by the governing body nor the athletic department.
Mike Amado, captain of the upstart hockey team, has been playing hockey since he was in middle school. He came to FIU for academic reasons with the hopes of there being a hockey team in the near future.
“There are 40,000 kids at FIU, I’m sure there are 20 that skate decently,” Amado said. “Ever since then it’s been a hunt to find people.”
It started at orientation when Amado gave his name and his interests of playing hockey. While at that orientation, one of the other students, Matt Parrish, announced he played hockey as well.
Amado also invited into Daniel Lopez, the current goalkeeper, to join the team.
Amado and Lopez were rivals in high school. Amado got the better of Lopez, defeating him twice in different championship games. However, that did not stop Amado from joining the club at FIU.
“We came to FIU and he asked me if I wanted to join,” Amado said. “As much as we were rivals now, we are going to be on the same team.”
The team currently has 19 players and is three short from a complete roster. The team is adding players whenever they can with one new addition coming as recently as last week.
The club is facing financial issues as they are trying to become a CSO club to receive the proper funding to run the team. The team has hopes of having enough money to properly run practices along with having a full staff of coaches and other positions. They also hope to have the funds to get better equipment.
Despite the heartaches, hope may be on the horizon. FIU recently played the University of Miami in front of 400 fans at Kendall Ice Arena on March 5, losing to the Hurricanes 11-3. It was the first collegiate hockey game ever played in Miami-Dade County. Despite the loss, the opportunity to play gave the team hope considering they only advertised the game through word of mouth.
The team’s goal is to eventually be part of the American Collegiate Hockey Association. The ACHA is similar to the NCAA, but a tier below. With proper funding and enough players they will join schools such as Florida Gulf Coast University, University of Central Florida and others in the ACHA.
At the moment, the team is attempting to use FIU as their main recruiting tool. FIU is currently trying to increase the number of students it admits into the university each year for the next few years. Amado and Lopez hope that of those additional students, at least a few will play hockey.
“The odds of the new students coming in are, at minimum, one or two of them will be hockey players,” Amado said.
The team is also hoping to truly use the “International” in the school’s name.
“FIU recruits all over the world and maybe they get kids from Russia, Sweden, or other countries in Europe where hockey is prominent,” Amado said. “Maybe they aren’t looking to play hockey when they come to FIU. But if they see that FIU has a hockey team they would want to join.”
The team wants to replicate the university it plays for. Since Amado and Lopez’s freshman year, they have both noticed all of the progress made at the university.
“FIU doesn’t seem like it is slowing down anytime soon and we are FIU,” says Amado. “We have the same exact drive and ambition to become big.”
The FIU hockey team is currently planning its next match against the University of Tampa. The venue and date are still to be determined.
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