The Los Altos Club Roller Hockey team is a committed group of athletes. Made up mostly of junior males, the team drives about a half-hour just for practices. The Roller Hockey team participates in three seasons annually: fall, winter and spring, with seasons lasting 10 weeks.

Unfortunately, hardly anyone in the school knows about the accomplishments of this team, despite its impressive success. The team took home a championship  in its league during its first season.

“Since it’s not like CCS or anything, we get no publicity,” junior Jason DeMayo said. “Pretty much nobody shows up to our games.”

Jason founded the club along with teammate junior Jesse Burke when they were both freshmen. Both wanting to showcase their talent for their school, they decided to bring the idea up with administration.

“In southern California most schools have roller hockey as a school-sanctioned sport,” Jesse said.

Although it is only a club in this area, many schools play in the league that Los Altos joined in 2005 including Bellarmine, Mountain View and Los Gatos. There are five divisions in the entire league, each, with two subdivisions made up of 7-10 teams. Although roller hockey isn’t as physical as ice hockey, the fast-paced, intense games can still lead to some entertaining spectacles. From cheap shots to fights, and the occasional scuffle and trash talk, the frustration boils over.

“I think there’s a misconception about roller hockey because it does tend to get physical,” Jesse said. “Not as much as ice hockey, but there’s more contact than people think.”

Roller hockey also just has much trash talk as ice hockey.

“There are also the ‘scrums’ that you see in hockey, like after the play stops,” Jason said. “If somebody messes with our goalie, our enforcers will come up and talk some trash with them.

Roller hockey is also played with only four people per team (not including the goalie), rather than the standard five found in ice hockey. According to Jason, this creates more goal scoring and fast-paced, creating an exhilarating experience for fans.