Some say that a team is only as strong as its fanbase. Home field advantage wouldn’t be the formidable factor in sports that it is without the passion of fans. For the club hockey team, cultivating a fanbase has been a historic struggle — one that contributed to the club going defunct in 2013. However, the club hockey team is back and better than ever. Their newfound popularity wouldn’t be possible without dedication behind the scenes from a lesser-known organization: The Ice Birds.
Similar to the majority of the UTSA student body, the founding members of the Ice Birds didn’t know that UTSA had a club hockey team. Social Media and Standards Officer Nariah Bustos, Vice President Paulina Gonzales and President Leah Caldaron stumbled across the team while working as resident assistants for UTSA Housing.
The trio started attending games to support the Vice President of the UTSA hockey club, Joshua LeComte, who was also an RA at the time. They would often be the only fans in the stands, cheering on a team with a relatively non-existent fanbase.
“We started noticing that the team itself was so new that obviously they didn’t have any fans yet,” Gonzales said. “So we were their fans, even if it was two or three of us.”
Soon, the trio, along with Director of Hockey Operations Camila Rhode, started assisting the team with behind-the-scenes work essential to the hockey club’s existence. Then, the founding members decided to officially form the Ice Birds in the spring of 2024. They’ve been helping the team operate ever since.
“They obviously needed people to help manage the games, or help with ticket sales, or help promote the games out to the public, or to the school itself, to our friends, our family,” Gonzales said. “That’s when we established the subsidiary organization, because we’re [operating] under the hockey team.”
It was important to the executive board that the name for the organization was gender-ambiguous, as all fans of the hockey club are encouraged to participate. The Ice Birds got their name from newly-elected Spirit of the Roadrunner Alessandro Espinosa, who commented on the idea on an Instagram post. After months of searching, the name stuck.
As the organization grew to include 15 members, the Ice Birds have taken over a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to essential team operations. The Ice Birds took over a lot of the game-day operations of the hockey club, managing the ticket sales and ensuring that the players had everything they needed to be successful.
“Our main goal is to promote them,” Rhode said. “As a group, we wanted them to be able to focus on the game rather than the operations on game day or setting up fundraisers, whatever it may be. We wanted to be a support system for them.”
The Ice Birds also manage the team’s social media, handle game promotion and organize fundraisers to support the hockey club.
“The other day, we had our ‘Pie a Player’ fundraiser. We organize that, we show up, we are the ones chanting,” Rhode said. “Some of the guys are shy, so we like to go out there and get people to come.”
“Day to day, it’s a lot of promotion, a lot of social media. Because at the end of the day, you need a fan base first. So that’s what we’re trying to establish,” Gonzales added. “Especially during game week, it’s always ‘okay what time can we help table?’ Sometimes, we’re the ones setting up, and they just show up.”
Game week is a huge deal not only for the hockey club, but for the Ice Birds as well. A lot of coordination from the executive board goes into ensuring that gameday operations go off without a hitch.
“We have our gameday expectations meetings on Thursdays, before our Friday and Saturday games. As president, my role is to enlist expectations for that day, the roles for my birds, what they need to do and what jobs I would like them to do,” Calderon said. “It’s a lot, I enjoy it because it makes me feel connected to my birds. It makes me feel connected to the team and our coaches as well.”
Although the Ice Birds operate as a subsidiary organization to the hockey club, the executive board still invests time and effort into ensuring its members are supported and engaged.
“As Ice Birds, we try to find any sort of person that’s welcome to come and have fun, and hang out,” Gonzales said. “So we also try to invest some time into the subsidiary organization itself and make sure that we’re maintaining our good relationships as friends, and as a fanbase.”
Even in the sweltering heat that envelops the Texas Hill Country, a niche community of hockey fans still exists — especially in San Antonio. However, San Antonio hockey fans have not had a team to call their own since 2020, when the San Antonio Rampage was sold to the Vegas Golden Knights. As the Ice Birds have continued to assist the hockey club with their operations, they’ve witnessed the cultivation of a fanbase in real time — largely due to their efforts.
“Of course, compared to the three people that used to be there,” Gonzales said when asked about how the organization has seen the fan base grow. “Now seeing everyone all around the rink banging on the [glass], and upstairs with bells and stuff yelling ‘U-T-S-A,’ it’s a completely different, new atmosphere and we love it.”
Historically, the hockey club has struggled to survive due to low funding and low membership. However, the addition of the Ice Birds has alleviated a lot of the pressure, allowing the organization to gain a more stable footing.
“They’ve never had the Ice Birds, so maybe that’s the difference,” Gonzales said. “I don’t know what [the organization] is going to be down the line, but I definitely have very high hopes for it.”
The UTSA hockey club played their final home game of the semester on Friday. Their next San Antonio appearance will be on Jan. 25 against Western Colorado University at the Ice & Golf Center At Northwoods. More information about the Ice Birds can be found on their Instagram.
