United we skate

Athletes from Kettle Run, Liberty and Fauquier high schools typically develop fierce rivalries because they battle against each other in sports like football, lacrosse and basketball.

This winter, guys from each of those Fauquier County schools came together simply to create an opportunity to play a sport.

Drawing exclusively from Kettle Run, Liberty and Fauquier, Chris Layman rounded up enough guys to build a roster of 19 ice hockey players. They became the Fauquier County Hockey Club Bulldogs and finished their first season Feb. 6 with a 2-7 record.

“We’re quite pleased with that,” Layman, the coach, said of winning two games. “In the beginning of the year, we had a lot of kids that came directly from inline [skating], so they had not played on ice before. They really improved tremendously.”

FCHC uses the new Haymarket Iceplex, practicing or playing games every Tuesday. The Bulldogs also share ice time with a first-year Fauquier middle school hockey team on Fridays.

“Basically we’ve never had a [local] rink before,” Layman said. “Now that it’s convenient for Warrenton folks, it’s the time to do it.”

In years past, hockey enthusiasts from Fauquier County had to travel to Prince William County or Ashburn to use a rink. FCHC players Ethan Layman (Fauquier High) and Riley DeBorde (Kettle Run), for example, continue to play for a Prince William team.

“But we live 45 minutes away from the rink,” said Layman, Chris’ son.

So the more local option of Haymarket is welcomed.

“It’s nice,” DeBorde said. “I love hockey. I would love to come back in five or 10 years and see it at each [high] school; to actually be sponsored” and funded like other varsity sports.

High school ice hockey teams have recently gained popularity in the Washington, D.C., area, which some call the Alex Ovechkin boom. No high schools in Fauquier County offer ice hockey as a varsity sport, though, so Chris Layman formed this club team. Each player pays for his own equipment and players pool their money for ice time at the Iceplex.

“Unfortunately, it is an expensive sport,” Layman said.

Fauquier plays opponents from the Northern Virginia Scholastic Hockey League — Flint Hill, Osbourn, Brentsville, Osbourn Park, etc. — but it isn’t a member of the league.

“We could join,” Layman said. “But pulling kids from three schools you’d have to be independent and you cannot play for a championship….We chose not to at this time. Maybe one day.”

The Bulldogs finished their season with a 4-2 loss to Flint Hill (5-4 record). Senior center Brett Freeman and freshman center Stephen Heskett scored for Fauquier, while junior wing Nick Andrews finished the season as the Bulldogs’ leading scorer.

“They’re a lot more aggressive than other teams we’ve played,” said Flint Hill’s Scott Kuras. They “came out hitting.”

Fauquier actually out-shot Flint Hill, 34-22, although not all were quality shots.

“We can play our positions, but we can’t skate fast enough and we can’t shoot well enough to actually put it to good use,” Ethan Layman said. “But it was a fun season.”

“The weakness is skating,” Chris Layman said. “When you have kids only skating for a year….That’s a huge disadvantage.”

FCHC goalie Adam Gleason (Liberty) is a first-year player who found it helpful to have a few more experienced teammates like Andrews, DeBorde, Freeman and Ethan Layman.

“It helps because then you get to learn a lot more, and it helps you develop faster,” he said.

For more information about FCHC, contact Chris Layman at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Follow Jeff on Twitter.