Belvidere Fury: Building a team

By Anne Eickstadt

SUBMITTED PHOTOS Belvidere Republican
The Fury Ice Hockey Team with their head coach David Wandell.

Editor

“The Belvidere Fury Ice Hockey team came about because my son, Jacob, said the Belvidere Park District was building an ice rink,” said Kerry Brawner, Belvidere Fury Hockey VP. “He and his friend Patrick McGowan had been playing ice hockey on and off over in Rockford. “Why can’t we start a team of our own?’ he asked. So we did some research and jumped through a lot of hoops. We talked to other kids who were interested in hockey.

“In July, 2016, we had everything approved and announced we were starting a team. Our team is considered to be a scholastic team and we pull players from high schools from the surrounding area. We currently have players from Belvidere High School, Belvidere North High School, Sycamore, and DeKalb high schools. We had one player from North Boone but he decided against playing shortly after the team started.

“When we were putting everything together, we tried to choose a team color that was not associated with any of the high schools. That is why we picked the color teal. Then we designed a logo for the team.

“We found a coach and, suddenly, we had a new sports team. Jacob was so excited to play for a home team. His only other option was to play in Rockford and he always felt like an outsider. The other kids all knew each other and went to school together but Jacob was just someone from Belvidere, not Rockford.”

“It’s special to play with kids we go to school with,” Jacob said. “Thanks to the Belvidere Park District for building an ice rink. We had to make do with playing in Rockford until our hometown got one.”

“It would be great if we could get a roof over the rink,” Kerry said. “The park district cut the parking lot in half so there is not much parking area. There are no locker rooms, no viewing area, no seating.

“Many people still don’t know we exist. We have been trying to gain exposure. We participated in both the Belvidere High School and Belvidere North High School Homecoming parades. Jacob is trying to start an ice hockey club at BHS and get a cheering team. We would love to get as many kids as possible to come out for the games. We have had some kids come out and…

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