Our Crowdfunding Groups
The California Ice Hockey Program was founded in 1929 as the sport began to take its roots across the west coast. This past season, we ended 11-3 and reached the Pacific Athletic Conference Semifinal for the third straight year. To compete at a high level of club hockey, we require the funds to practice and travel to play tougher competition. While in the past we have been able to barely make ends meet for our growing and improving program, the COVID-19 pandemic is a financial obstacle we still need to overcome for the future of the club. Will you help us by making a gift today?
This year especially, Cal Ice Hockey really needs your support in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Like the rest of the world, we were brought to a standstill: our 2020-2021 season was cancelled and we have no income for this year which drastically impacts our budget for the future. To make matters worse, Under Armour has terminated their sponsorship deal with UC Berkeley. As a result, we lost an additional $6,500 in funding and we no longer receive much needed significant discounts on equipment from them. Without additional help and funding to make up for this loss this could have heavy adverse consequences for the future of the program.
With 28 active players last year and a roster expected to expand for the future, we accrue more expenses which will limit our ability to compete and improve as a program. Despite having had great success this season, we remain unranked regionally largely because our ranking is based on the relative strength of our schedule and we do not have the resources to travel and play stronger teams. With more funding, including your generous contribution, we will have the ability to schedule more non-conference games against the premier programs in the West and earn a high enough standing to get an invitation to Regionals and prepare ourselves for the conference tournament.
Many of the other teams in our division receive around $20,000 to $100,000 from their respective universities, and while we’re undoubtedly a top team in the division, UC Berkeley only allocates $600 to our program and taxes us $6,370, which results in a net -$5,770. Thus, most of the Cal Ice Hockey budget is funded by dues collected from players themselves. Our players have to pay the highest dues out of all Cal Sports Clubs teams. Unfortunately, the price to play can sometimes prevent some players from having the opportunity to take part in our program. The chart below reflects the sources of funds for our budget.
Based on previous budgets and our current plans with extreme cutbacks due to the pandemic, we expect to spend $75,000 in the 2020-21 season. The majority of our budget is dedicated to rink fees, which covers the costs of renting ice time for practices, games, and community events that we host. As a club we have historically been very frugal: to save money we have had to hold our practices at inconvenient times. This past season our practices were at 6am in the morning and in previous seasons our practices were held at midnight. Our budgeted expenditures are shown by percentage breakdown in the graph below.
All things considered, the most important goal of this fundraising campaign is to expand our impact on the surrounding community. Specifically, our team hopes to invest time and money in hockey outreach events with projects like charity games, summer camps, and youth team mentoring. Beyond competition, our players also participate in important community outreach events such as “Try Hockey for Free” skates held in Oakland. All in all, your donation will go a long way to help both the team and the communities of Berkeley and Oakland. This team is something special for all the players and everyone who the community touches.
We are more than just a hockey team; the community that this team builds is something special. We're a close group of friends brought together by something we're all passionate about: we play hockey together, hang out together, and study together. We understand that this past year has been extremely stressful and tough for everyone, and we hope that you can find the kindness to help Cal Ice Hockey out today!
On behalf of the team, thank you for your generosity and consideration; we truly appreciate all of your support. Go Bears!
You will be included in our thank you post at the end of our campaign on our social media platforms
Our leadership group will send you and personal video thanking you for your generous contribution to our program.
Option to meet with our leadership group on a Zoom call to talk about our program, team, and to learn more about our initiatives.
