Roller hockey court needs serious renovations.

It was just after 7 p.m. and the mosquitoes were thick in the air as Tripp Crouse sat on the bleachers ready to watch another hockey game.

The former tennis courts and now-Wall Street Roller Hockey Complex, lovingly named “The Kennel,” was poorly lit by parking lot lights.

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An A-league game had just ended, and two teams from the B-league were heading out onto the court to warm up.

Crouse was one of only three people sitting on those bleachers when one of the players came over to the chain-link fence.

“Any of you want to play goal?” he asked. “We’ll pay you $8.”

“I will,” Crouse said. “I’ve played before.”

The team didn’t have a regular goalie and no one wanted to play it, so Crouse was recruited and taken to the side where he was suited up with a complete set of goalie’s pads.

The game was on. Crouse was now a part of the largest Registered Student Organization on campus.

The SIU Roller Hockey club has the highest membership of any campus club with 108 members, but that hasn’t been good enough to get a better court to play on.

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Last year, the club petitioned SIU to get better lighting, increase the length of the court to regulation size and get a new surface, among other things. The court is lit by the same lights that were there to light the tennis courts. The club never heard from the school.

Spitler said that lights are needed on the east and west sides of the court, where it is very hard to see after nightfall.

Since the hockey court is just the old tennis courts, it is not a regulation size for hockey. It is 112 square feet, but the dimensions need to be increased to 175-by-85 feet.

The old tennis courts were resurfaced with street ice – a rubbery surface installed in 2000 specially designed for roller hockey – which has bubbled up, cracked and burst, said Pete Spitler, a player and sometime referee.

The club wants to remove the wire fence that makes up the perimeter and install plywood boards.

“Some of the [current] boards are pretty dangerous,” said Paul Pearman, secretary of the club.

The top of the fence has spikes that can cause serious injury if fallen into.

In addition to the safety these changes would bring, a rebuilt complex would allow SIU to host a tournament and bring more hockey notoriety to the school.

The club was mentioned along with the football and basketball teams in a Sports Illustrated poll that listed top sports schools. SIU was ranked No. 121.

“It would bring in people to the community,” Spitler said. “It will increase tourism, and will be a very positive experience for all parties involved.”

Back at the game, a stick to the back of the head sent one player to the ground, and a two-minute penalty was called.

“Hey, we got a bleeder,” one of the players shouted.

“Anyone on the bleachers want to drive this guy to the hospital?” Spitler, the referee asked.

Play was stopped as the two other fans from the bleachers, Brook Thurau and Samantha Clover, a wife and a girlfriend, respectively, of two of the team members, along with Spitler, attended to the injured man.

Even though the blood ran down the back of his neck, he decided to stick it out and didn’t go to the hospital, but he did sit out the rest of the game.

Crouse, who had played defense, center and winger a few years ago, sat down on the court to remove his pads after the 10-2 loss.

“I love the game of hockey, and I love playing goal,” Crouse said, “but these guys tear me up.”

Reporter Christopher Morrical can be reached at [email protected]