Who said hockey is only for men?

This year women’s hockey is getting prepared for their own season right here at ISU.

Wendy Martling and Sue Marino, two of the squad’s members, recently discussed the origin of the new club.

They said the club was formed this year because of interest in last year’s intramural women’s hockey teams.

There are individuals to plan strategy. The head coach is Eric Swartz and the assistant coach is Mike Faulice.

Marino and Martling said it is difficult getting started with this sport because it can be expensive.

They have to rent the ice rink for each practice twice a week, in addition to the dues to join the club and the uniform.

Other difficulties are that the two captains are feeling pressure to do well with their first year of club play, even though Dr. Murdock, the men’s coach, is supporting them.

“People just have to realize that the women’s and guy’s teams are different levels of competition,” Marino said.

Their goals for this year are to have fun with the new sport and to improve as the season continues.

For the future, Marino hopes to see the team expand and be classified as Division I.

But for now, ISU has the only women’s collegiate team for hockey, which means they must search elsewhere for competition.

Their first games are scheduled for January 31 and February 1 against the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

The members of the team will begin their fund-raising efforts by hosting a spaghetti dinner on November 17 from 6-9 p.m. at Reiman Gardens.

They hope to use this to raise money for the season, and the cost is $3 in advance and $4 at the door.