Men's Ice Hockey Club Launches FundRazor Campaign; Help Support Their Fundraising Efforts

Men's Ice Hockey Club Launches FundRazor Campaign; Help Support Their Fundraising Efforts
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The Razorback Men's Ice Hockey Club started in 2007 and has been a winning dynasty in Division 3 ever since. The U of A club plays out of the American College Hockey Association (ACHA) and is consistently nationally ranked top 10 during the regular season. Recently, the club went the furthest it ever has nationally by reaching the championship in 2020-21 and coming in second, and falling in the national semifinal game in 2021-22.

The conference we play in used to be the SECHC until it moved leagues in 2020. Team members decided it was best to stay put in the league and leave the SECHC conference, which forced them to join the MACHA conference in the 2021-22 season. Some awards include being the six-time winners of the Southeastern Collegiate Hockey Conference and regular season and tournament champions of the MACHA in the 2021-22 season. The team has also hosted multiple 1st Team All-Americans each of the past three seasons.

Donate to the Ice Hockey Club.

Why Are We Raising Money?

Like many other sports at the U of A, the men's ice hockey team is consistently at the top of the national rankings, wins championships and is loved by Razorback fans. However, unlike those other teams, being a club team, the hockey team does not receive the funding that the other programs do. Because of this, the club relies on payments from the players as well as ticket and jersey sales from our faithful fans to fund the entirety of our seasons. To further help our team's financial goals, we have decided to launch this project in hopes that generous donors like yourself will help to keep our season funded, as well as taking some financial strain off of our players. We get to play the sport we love because of these donations, and everything is appreciated!

What Will We Spend the Money On?

  1. Ice Time 
    We try and minimize the practices on the ice to two times per week, and we feel like if we want to be an elite contender for nationals each year that it is imperative that we keep those two times. Ice time is a significant expense for our team, and it is the last thing that we would want to have to cut back on for our budget. Our fans are the best in the state, and we would hate to reduce the number of home games we play just because we can't afford the ice time. With the help of this FundRazor, you could make sure we can afford our ice time for practices and home games this season.
  2. Travel  
    With the recent move into a new conference, the MACHA has forced us to have to travel more. The league requires us to play a certain amount of home and away games against our divisional opponents, and the travel is not cheap. Also, recent success over the last two seasons has given us more of a prominent name, and top schools are reaching out wanting to play against us. For example, this year we have received an invite to play in Miami of Ohio's invitational showcase with only the top teams in the nation being invited. Showcases like these are what helps prepare our team by playing against the top teams in the nation, so that we can improve and be ready to beat them again during our National Tournament. In order to attend events like this, as well as maintain our current mandatory away games, the Razorbacks are going to need your help. Travel is our overwhelmingly largest expense item every year which includes hotels, buses, flights and gas.
  3. Equipment 
    Being a club sport brings on a lot of hardships when it comes to equipment. Hockey is easily one of the most expensive sports out there, with hockey skates averaging $600 and hockey sticks averaging $200. Therefore, our club tries to buy in bulk, making it easier and cheaper. We provide two sticks, one set of gloves, pant covers, socks and jerseys to each player. But the thing that we run into every year is having the money all at once and all up front. With the Razorback Hockey team establishing ourselves as an elite hockey club, these are the things we need to provide so that we can adequately perform on the ice and bring good hockey players to our school by having an attractive program. This year we will need your help more than ever because we must buy new hockey jerseys for every player. Traditionally we only have to buy new jerseys for new players, but because of a logo usage rule change, we had to redesign our jerseys and purchase new ones for every single player. We are excited for the new jersey design, though, and we think our fans will be too, but buying new jerseys for everyone will be expensive. 

How Can You Help?

There are many ways that you can help the club succeed and raise money for our season. The biggest one is by donating money to one of our various levels that are posted on the site or a custom amount of your choosing. The second way that you can help is by sharing this on your social media or emailing it out to friends, family, etc. as well as following us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. The last way that you can help is by trying to make Razorback Hockey known in Northwest Arkansas as well as coming out to support us at our home games! Thank you for reading, and we hope that you would be willing to help us out. From all of us in the organization, we thank you more than you will ever know for letting us live our dream!

Contacts

Michael Pappan, coordinator of club and intramural sports
University Recreation
479-575-6380, mpappan@uark.edu

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