Although many may never have heard the news, the roller hockey club team has been consistently good for nearly a decade. It has won its regional tournament for five years running, and two years ago, when nationals were held on its home rink in Morrisville, the team made it farther than it ever had previously. The team landed in the elite eight, where it was defeated by Eastern Michigan.

However, for all of these glorious moments, there was an important figure standing behind the bench: a coach.

“We’re coaching ourselves this year,” alternate team captain Mike Starrett, a junior in political science, said. “It’s me and Mike Downer that are kind of running practices this year. We had a player’s dad coaching us the past couple years, but with his work constraints, he had to back out.”

Downer said things are working out even without a coach.

“It’s been a good experience so far,” Downer, a senior in industrial engineering, said. “Mike’s coached youth hockey before, but this is my first year. So we’re just sort of figuring it out. We’ve got a really young team, and we’ve needed to focus on some different things than we have in the past, but it’s been going pretty well so far.”

“[Starrett and Downer] have been around for four years, so it’s basically been them running the show,” Bobby Child, a junior in polymer and color chemistry, said. “They know hockey like the back of their hands, and they’re natural leaders out there. When they speak, the freshmen definitely listen.”

One of those freshmen is Al Westin, who was born in Sweden and played ice hockey for years before making the switch. Child says he is a player to watch for.

“He’s a character,” Child said. “I think he’s going to help our team immensely.”

In his first year as president, Child has managed to come up with a creative way to secure funds for his team — he asked Student Government. Although he says finances are “rarely a problem,” and his team is almost never in debt, he obtained some spare cash by simply filling out a few forms.

“I know one of the senators from last year, and she told me it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try,” Child said. “I felt like we had a good argument because we’re very competitive, and we represent N.C. State very well at our tournaments, so they took that under consideration. They only gave us about $300, but every little bit helps.”

“I’m not sure how many club sports team know about it, but there are other ways to make ends meet,” he said.

The team is hosting its first tournament this weekend in which it will face teams such as North Carolina and Virginia Tech. Although finances may not be a problem, Starrett said filling the seats is something the team finds troublesome.

“It’s kinda hard to get people to come out, because the rink that we play at is 15 minutes away,” he said.

Westin said he’s hoping to have more fans.

“Roller Hockey is a really fun sport to watch and play, so people should really try and get involved,” Westin said.

After losing a coach and gaining several fresh faces, Downer said there’s no reason why his team shouldn’t experience the success it’s had in previous years.

“I think we’re going to be fine this year. We’ve got our core group of older guys and a lot of new talent, and they’re looking pretty promising,” Downer said. “I think we’ll do well again.”