Every run-of-the-mill, school-affiliated high school sport is met with leniency in assignments, the support of the student body, and triumph as their wins are announced to the school body. A majority of student-athletes can revel in this affiliation, seeing their glory make front pages, whether it be in the physical form of the school newspaper or the auditory forms of announcements, the school broadcast, and by word-of-mouth.

The majority, though, is not the topic of this story; as a sport unaffiliated and often unfamiliar to the faculty, students, and staff at Millard North, hockey can easily be overlooked and misunderstood by those that are uninformed and unfamiliar.

But why is this popular sport not affiliated with the school? Hockey is hosted and managed by the Omaha Junior Lancers for the majority of high school players and covers a large extent of not only the Omaha population but also as far as Fremont and even Lincoln. This begs the question: how does one stay afloat in school, and what does this disaffiliation mean for our players?

“Teachers don’t really know what’s going on for us, and I always have to take the first step to ensure my absence is accounted for,” said Senior Jackson Lundgren. “They know why a football player’s absent, but teachers don’t know why I’m missing, so there isn’t as much leniency for missing work.”

This is a story all too common for hockey players not only in the Junior Lancers but in high school hockey itself. Despite this, staff misunderstandings are only the beginning of hockey struggles in the academic setting.

“I am at the rink 3 times a week, in the weight room for 2 days, and traveling for competitions very often, so if I wanted to join school clubs, it’s out of the question,” said Lundgren.

For others on the hockey team, this struggle rings true. Senior Davis Mardesen, who plays for the Junior Lancers as well, struggles to stay on the same page not only in school and in his classes, but in other sport experiences.

“The independence of hockey being unaffiliated with the school can be difficult,” said Mardesen. “Scheduled times aren’t around school calendars, and it can be hard to play a school sport here because coaches don’t really understand the priorities of out-of-school sports.”

Despite this difficulty that ails the hockey players in the Junior Lancers, there are upsides that make the experience much more enjoyable for its players.

“We have a long season that starts when football is starting up and ends after basketball ends as well,” said Mardesen.

This lengthy sport season allows for dozens of games to be played and for the team to grow together not only in practices but but in competitions as well.

Along with this long play time and the improvements, relationships, and experiences that come with it, hockey players can experience more outside of Nebraska.

“We play 2 games every weekend, but we get the opportunity to travel the Midwest, going to cities like Sioux City, Cedar Rapids, and Des Moines as a team,” said Mardesen. “We even have players on our teams that travel to play with us.”

This positive aspect of hockey isn’t the only plus side to this story. To the luck of our statewide hockey aficionados, the sport has taken ahold of the Cornhusker State and has grown massively since the 1990s, around which multiple different junior, collegiate, and club teams began to spring about in Nebraska, including the Omaha Junior Lancers.

“I have definitely noticed an improvement in the school environment, and I hope to see more as we continue in our season,” said Lundgren.

In comparison to the grip that football, basketball, and other major sports have on the Nebraska population, hockey may be overlooked for now, but with the various developments, traveling opportunities, and teams there are for the state, hockey is only growing in its impact in Nebraska.

Despite the struggles of a sport making its place in an environment already riddled with diehard fans and aficionados, hockey is making great strides and making a place for itself not only in Nebraska, but in the Millard community, too.