BIDDEFORD — Alan Thibeault is what you could call a hockey dad, one of many of that ilk to be found within York County.
And one of the rights and responsibilities of such doting fathers is to build a backyard rink, a place where the neighborhood hockey fun never ends, and the sibling squabbles often carry over to the dinner table.
Most hockey dads never actually get around to getting that frozen pond built, but then again, Thibeault isn’t like the rest.
As Director of Campus Planning for the University of New England, Thibeault will soon get to work on constructing a gleaming, $10 million dollar rink, as part of UNE’s $20 million Alfond Athletic Complex.
Scheduled for ground breaking later this Spring, the Complex, which will provide a new home for UNE’s varsity basketball teams, is the latest in a series of major undertakings by the university aimed at revving up its NCAA Division III athletic program.
“I’ll be able to watch it (go up) out my window,” said Thibeault, whose current office view across Rte. 9 is dominated by a large stand of trees. “I believe that if you build it, they will come. (We saw) the growth of some of our athletic programs as they became successful. You see that with basketball, with field hockey. It (sets off) an amazing growth of the student involvement.”
Thibeault said he saw that phenomenon first hand while coaching youth sports.
“To have that camaraderie is something really special for that college experience. I think that this kind of facility will take us (to great lengths). They’ll have a place they can call their own.”
One of the biggest beneficiaries will be the UNE hockey program.
From its beginnings four years ago ”“ first as a club team, then upon elevating to varsity status two years ago ”“ the Nor’easters, under head coach Brad Holt, have played, practiced, and conducted most of its business at Biddeford Ice Arena.
And while support from students and area hockey fans in general has often been strong at BIA, it was understood from the first face off that UNE would someday move into its own on-campus space.
It would have to in order to keep up with the Joneses, or rather, the Norwiches, the Middleburys, the Bowdoins, the Plymouths, and the Southern Maines.
Each of those programs ”“ and many others in Division III hockey ”“ have modern, on campus rinks with weight training facilities, dedicated dressing rooms, and other bells and whistles.
“We’re trying to take ideas and concepts that other institutions and rinks are using,” said Curt Smyth, UNE’s Interim Athletic Director, “and incorporate that into our plans. We’re very comfortable with the plans that we have now. We feel that we’re going to have a first rate building when we finish.”
All of them are must haves for a college hockey team bent on competing for recruits, championships, and campus buzz.
These items are all in the blueprints for the rink, which will have seating for 900 spectators with standing room for hundreds more.
“We’re already seeing it,” said Holt, whose team is slated to play one more season at BIA. “It’s created such great momentum that’s really infectious. Even though the kids coming in know they aren’t going to be in it for a year, they’re really excited about it. It’s what we need to get to the next level. To get the attention of the good player. It’s exactly what we need.
“We started at Biddeford, which is great. I love that building. But being on our own campus, expecially with the academic pressures that UNE tends to put on its students, will logistically make it easier for all of our athletes. That will be a huge improvement.”
The Big Blue Dig project was hastened when the university received a large grant from the Harold Alfond Foundation ”“ a $10 million endowment in total ”“ to get the project off the drawing board.
The rest of the money is being raised by the university
“When our discussions really took off about this building,” Thibeault said, “we were a hockey program. As we got closer and closer, we didn’t know when we were going to start, because we didn’t have the funding. And then we were blessed by the Alfond Foundation with that gift. And then things really took off.”
The real launch will being ignited when the Nor’easters glide back to Biddeford Pool for what will be their fourth varsity season.
By then, the campus hockey calendar could be somewhat fuller.
The university plans to add a women’s hockey program in the near future. Club and intramural hockey teams are also likely to be formed.
And all of that puck activity is going to make one busy hockey dad mighty happy.
“I love watching college hockey,” said Thibeault, whose love affair with the game began nearly 30 years ago while he was a student at UMaine. “Really it’s a fun sport. I don’t have the opportunity to get to too many games. Personally, I’m looking forward to having some hockey on campus so I can go watch it.”
He won’t have to look far to find it.
It’ll be going on just outside his office window.
Note: This is the last of a four part series, “The Rinks of York County”.
— Contact Dan Hickling at dhickling@journaltribune.com or follow on Twitter @DanHickling.
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