Alabama men’s and women’s hockey have continued to face challenges this season due to the team’s commute to the nearest ice rink, which is 60 miles away in Pelham.
The Pelham Civic Complex is home to not only Alabama’s club hockey teams, but the Birmingham Bulls, a professional hockey team, and Pelham Hockey, which hosts multiple junior league teams.
The Civic Complex’s rinks are also available to be rented out for events and are often open for public skating days.
Due to the demand for ice time at the center, Alabama’s hockey teams are not only competing against each other for time in the rink, but also against every other organization that uses the facility.
The women’s D1 team practices once a week at 8 p.m. on Wednesdays.
“We can’t practice more than once a week,” Freya Seneski, a sophomore on the women’s team, said. “It’s very difficult. It takes a lot longer in the season for us to connect on the ice and know how each other plays.”
The men’s D1 team is able to practice twice a week, but not until 9:15 p.m. The men’s D3 team doesn’t begin its practices until 10 p.m.
“Most of the high-end teams we play have their own rinks, so they’re practicing every day, and we’re only able to practice twice a week,” Mike Fairbanks, head coach of the Men’s D1 ACHA team, said. “We have to work harder.”
In 2024, the Akins Ford Arena opened in Atlanta and became home to the University of Georgia’s men’s hockey team. With a .3-mile distance between UGA and the arena, this is the closest facility any school in the SEC hockey league has.
With an hour drive from Tuscaloosa to Pelham, the late practice times have these students getting back on campus well past midnight.
“I worry about the kids,” Fairbanks said. “We’ve had some accidents in the past where kids trying to get to practice get hurt.”
In 2009, the men’s D1 team lost sophomore Steve Filo in a car accident while he was traveling with his younger brother, Joey Filo, from the team’s training camp in Pelham back to campus.
On days when the men’s D1 team doesn’t have practice in Pelham, the team tries to supplement its on-ice practices with yoga and other off-ice workouts. With no campus-provided place for the team to work out, the players often work out at the Student Recreation Center.
Recently, though, the men’s players were banned from working out at the rec center for a week due to their group workouts.
“Unfortunately, we believe people complained and it became a big issue at the rec center,” Tayla Lucas, the men’s D1 team’s director of internal affairs, said. “It’s almost like we’re feeling a little bit unwelcomed on campus.”
Seneski said a rink even just 30 minutes from campus instead of an hour would make “such a difference” for the women’s team.
“Just having something closer for us and easier to access, even if we weren’t skating as a team but skating with a few teammates or on our own would make a huge difference,” Seneski said.
The men’s D1 team’s hope is not only to have a rink closer to campus, but also to expand into an NCAA-sanctioned sport.
“We’re just going to keep pushing,” Fairbanks said. “We’re both working 365 days a year to get it done.”
Alabama Athletics did not respond for a request for comment regarding hockey practice facilities at Alabama.
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