January 3 , 2005

GENEVA, N.Y.—The Hobart College hockey team took to the air this week, traveling to Germany for an eight-day European Hockey Challenge arranged by GoPlay Sports Tours. The Statesmen will get a chance to experience German culture as well as play four games against local teams.

“I want the guys to experience what I had experienced with a trip like this,” Head Coach Mark Taylor said. “The trip will serve a lot of purposes for the players. It will be educational and it will be a great life experience. They’ll talk about it for the rest of their lives.”

“From the hockey side it will help some guys realize that they can take their hockey past college.”

Hobart arrives in Munich and will head south across Bavaria on a private team touring bus, sightseeing as the team makes its way to its hotel in the scenic resort town of Fussen. A well-known winter resort, Fussen is the training center for the German National hockey team.

The following afternoon, the Statesmen will get their first taste of European hockey when they take on the local German team Geretsried. In its final day in Fussen, the players will get to experience more of Germany’s history, visiting the country’s oldest castle among other historic spots, before taking on the local Fusson team in their second game of the tour.

The Statesmen will spend much of the following day in Munich where they will visit the Olympic Park before continuing on to Dachau, a Nazi concentration camp during WWII.

Staying in the small town of Deggendorf, Hobart will travel north to the Czech Republic the following evening to play a team from Klatovy. Spending much of the final day in Nuremberg, the players will close out the hockey part of the trip with their final game against the Deggendorf team.

The Statesmen not only will get to test their skills against these European teams, but also will get a chance to talk with the players from each of the teams during post-game receptions.

“I know the trip will open their eyes in many ways and I hope it creates the desire for them to do all they can with their hockey,” Taylor said.

Hobart resumes its regular season schedule again on Jan. 14, traveling to Cortland State for a 7 p.m., game.