Oswego Lakers - Making a Difference

The Oswego Lakers hockey team has a culture backed on hard work, togetherness, and accountability. These factors have for the longest time been internal, but over the last two seasons have begun to become external with the motive of becoming more involved in the Oswego community. The idea of community outreach came to Head Coach, Travis Hyde, immediately when he took over the program in June 2021. "For me, the community is the backbone of the program. Without their support, you're just another team. The Oswego community is a hockey community, so we need to show our support for them to continue gaining their support in the growth of our program."

The Lakers have a number of specialty events on the schedule for this season, including their Pink The Rink event vs Syracuse University on October 27. Additionally, they will host NECHL conference fough RIT on November 11 for their Military and First Responders night. Both of these events have fundraised proceeds that go to specific charitable organizations. On top of these specialty games, Oswego has dedicated a few other contests to organizations around campus and the Oswego community including: Oswego YMCA Day, SAVAC night, Oswego Elks Night, and Clean Hitt Hockey - a sustainability organization who repurposes broken hockey sticks.

In terms of sustainability, members of the Lakers team have already assisted in trash pickup around campus as part of the "Campus Cleanup" event hosted yearly by the school. "We have a top notch facility with faculty that does everything they can to give us a great rink to play out of. The facilities are top notch and our responsibility is to ensure we help keep them clean," says coach Travis Hyde. The Lakers hope their contributions to the community will aid in the continued growth and recognition of the program on and around campus. In the end, their efforts will at least help to give back to a community who gives their all for Oswego Hockey.