The Optimist

Blades team members practice their passing drills

Jon Campbell

Staff Writer

You’re in frank Southern arena as many young hockey players are skating across the rink.  They are exhausted as the end of practice nears because they are doing what they call “killers”.  Yes they are in an ice rink but the equipment, pads and hard work they put in during practice has them sweating bullets as many faces and heads are full of sweat.  Not many people think hockey when they look at the state of Indiana.  Everybody knows the state as basketball country.  The Bloomington Blades is a youth hockey program for youths ranging from the ages 6-18.  The program includes hockey players all across the Bloomington community and has proven to be a successful hockey program among many others across the state.  The Blades teams include players who attend several schools across the area such as South, North and Edgewood.  All the Blades home games are played at Frank Southern Ice Rink, also known as “frank”, which is just a short walk from South’s back entrance.  Practices are throughout the week and have got a bad reputation among players.  “Practices are awful, but its nice being there with all my buddies playing a game we like”, Said junior Logan Leverenz about practices.  The facility’s proximity to South high school is also a convenience for players locally especially ones who go to BHSS.
 They travel all across Indiana to play at opposing teams. The Blades season officially starts in mid-October where travel games may occur as early as the first or second week of the season. The Blades season continues until early March and ends with the closing of Frank Southern around spring break.  Due to Bloomington’s location and Indiana University’s absence of intercollegiate hockey one may not think that the Blades program would be as successful and organized than it actually is compared to hockey programs in the state.  The Blades are actually very competitive and their schedule shows it. The Blades travel allover Indiana in cities like Indianapolis, South Bend, Evansville, Fort Wayne and Columbus. 
 Not only that but the community has plenty of players who love the sport.  The community provides plenty of hockey talent for the Blades travel program.  Hockey is a very physical game yet is much of a team sport.  “Hockey is a very fast sport where the moments can change in a flash of an eye” says freshman Logan Letner.  The travel program isn’t just all fun and games though especially when it comes to practice.  At the Blades practices they run through a lot of hockey strategies.  After strategies they do teamwork drills, which is described as the easiest part of practice.  After all of that they do skating drills, also known as “killers” which are supposedly the worst part. 
 This season for the Blades could be described as up and down season for the team.  “We got blown out by out two hardest teams this year, but have the best crossover win/lost record in Indiana”, said Letner.  The crossover win/loss record is important though because what class a team plays for in state. “The Blades program is good, because it is very lenient, get to have fun, but also work hard”, said Letner.  The Blades is a hockey program that has seen much success lately and their goal is to keep building on that success in making it even more of a top notch program within the state.