The Athens Youth Hockey Association has put new meaning into the phrase “travel hockey."
The association is made up of about 75 kids, many of which are not from the area. Because Ohio University’s Bird Arena is the only hockey rink within 90 miles, the teams draw players from all around the region, but must also travel in order to find teams to play.
Founded more than 45 years ago, the AYHA is the only organization of its kind within nearly 90 miles. The league is broken into six different teams based on age groups. The Mites are the youngest team, made up of kids ages five to eight. The Varsity team is the oldest team, made up of high-school students. In between are the Squirts, the PeeWee’s, the Bantam’s and the Junior Varsity team.
Because Bird Arena is the only ice rink in the area, the AYHA draws in kids from all around the area, including places as far away as Parkersburg W.Va., Charleston W.Va., Gallipolis, Ironton and Minford, Ohio.
“It’s a blessing and a curse,” said Mite coach Craig McCarthy. “20 years ago when I coached the high school hockey team, we had a player from Jackson, and also a player from Kentucky who drove up here as well. One rink in the area is in some ways good because it attracts people from out-of-town.”
While McCarthy said it is nice to attract kids from outside the area, he also said it makes scheduling much more difficult.
“With practices, as soon as you get into bad weather, it’s hard to drive kids 30 or 45 miles just to get to practice,” he said. “Four out of 16 kids on our team alone have at least a 30 minute drive to practice.”
For Pierce Reeves, a senior on the Varsity team, it is about an 80-mile trek to practice from his home in Ironton. According to Pierce’s mother, Michelle Allen, the biggest difficulty in getting her son to practice is the weather.
“We travel on State Route 93, which is a windy, hilly road,” Allen said. “There have been times we were unable to make the trip up due to weather. There have also been a few times that a storm came after we were in Athens and we were not able to go home on 93.”
Henry Smith, the captain of the Varsity team, travels 90 miles from his home in Charleston, W.Va.
“We have to make sure that our schedule is clear, that we leave the house on time, that homework has been completed,” said Smith’s mother, Carol. “Because there are not a lot of others doing it, my husband and I need to make the commitment to get him there because we do not have the option of calling anyone else to give him a ride.”
Even more difficult than scheduling practices, McCarthy said, is scheduling games. With no other hockey rink in the area, the teams must travel at least an hour-and-a-half for all their away games.
This past season, teams in the AYHA traveled to games in cities including Columbus, Cincinnati, Oxford and Troy as well as Kentucky and West Virginia.
As the former Ohio University hockey coach, McCarthy is used to traveling for games. As coach of the Bobcats, McCarthy led his team to back-to-back-to-back national championships in 1995, 1996 and 1997 and has more than 200 wins to his credit.
For his Mite team, McCarthy said scheduling for games is one of his biggest difficulties.
“In Columbus, there are a lot of Mite teams, so they can just play each other and only have to travel to the local rink,” he said. “But for us, we don’t have anyone close to play other than ourselves. We have to play against teams in Charlestown or Newark or Columbus. So when we’re on the road, we’re literally on the road.”
McCarthy admitted that joining the AYHA is a big commitment, and can at times be difficult and even deter some parents from signing their kids up to play.
“My two sons are four and six, and getting them out of bed at 6:30 a.m. to travel to Charleston, W.Va. for a nine o’clock game on a Sunday morning isn’t always easy,” McCarthy said. “It’s fun for the families but I also think it scares some families away because if you’re going to play some games, you really have to be committed to travel.
For families who live outside of Athens, game days can become even more hectic.
Allen said one game in Athens takes up about a five-and-a-half hour block of time. A game in Columbus takes up about seven-and-a-half hours.
“We usually drive back and forth unless we have a late game one night and an early game the next morning,” Allen said. “When that happens, we try to find a hotel.”
While the long hours can be stressful for both parents and kids alike, there is some good that comes out of away games.
“Some families really enjoy the experience,” McCarthy said. “They travel as a family and some families think it gives their kids less time to get in trouble and is a way to build character and discipline.”
With three kids that have played hockey in the AYHA, Melody Sands has been involved in the program for 19 years and said she has enjoyed the time spent on the road.
“The kids like the bonding opportunity when they travel,” Sands said. “They play knee hockey in the hotel hallways and hang out while the parents also hang out and have fun.”
Despite the difficulty of having to travel, Jody Perry said the coaches have been very accommodating with her son Mark, who travels from Charleston W.Va.
“The coaches have done a fantastic job in accepting the limitations of our travel,” Perry said. “If we are a little bit late, they never say a word. We have been made to feel appreciated for taking the time, and energy to play with Athens. It seems to be a win-win situation.”
At the Mite level, McCarthy said the team limits travel to day-trips only. However as the kids get older, overnight trips become more and more common.
The AYHA relies a lot on volunteers, many of which come from the Ohio University hockey team.
Former Ohio hockey player Ryan Tessmer has been working with the Mite team since Christmas. Current Ohio player Zach Tisdale, who the kids call “Tizzy”, helps out with the Mites once a week.
“The kids loved him,” McCarthy said about Tisdale. “Kids really like them and so if they are good teachers and good with kids then it’s a real win-win for all involved.”
Many Ohio players have also helped out with the other teams as well.
With experienced coaches such as McCarthy and the help of the Ohio players, the league is gaining notoriety.
“We can attract a lot of teams here because it’s a nice place on a university campus, but at the same time, in order to get games, we have to travel. We have no choice,” McCarthy said. “But it’s just not possible for some families to make that commitment. If they lived in Columbus though and only had to travel a few minutes, they would have a better opportunity to get kids involved with the sport.”
