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Zach Serwe is the Director of Business Operations for the Wausau Cyclones Hockey at the Marathon Park Ice Arena. He originally started in Sports Marketing for a baseball team before he got into hockey. Zach was so wonderful in hosting Rob, Bryan, and Bill at the Cyclones Hockey arena.

The origins of ice hockey have been traced back to a variety of stick and ball games popular in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and North America during the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

In 1908, the Olympics first accepted competitive hockey into the Olympic games, and the sport was surely here to stay! By 1964, there were 50 countries affiliated with the International Ice Hockey Federation including Africa, Pan America, and Asia. Today the IIHF consists of 5 continental associations and 137 national associations.

The Wausau Cyclones sure do have their own history. Their first season was held in 1972 as an adult senior team, meaning post–college, and continued that way till the early 2000’s. However, that team disbanded due to factors such as high costs. It wasn’t until 2017 that Junior hockey returned to the city of Wausau as the Wausau River Kings, a team originally purchased from the Chicago area. After some time, the new owner decided to sell the team to a local ownership group, where one of the group members is related to a past Cyclones player.

It wasn’t until 2021 that the Cyclones were once again rediscovered. People reminisce on memories from back in the 80’s and 90’s. Although there are no current players on the team from that era, they do hold an Alumni night once a season to be able to see all the past players join back together on the ice. Within the last 10 years, hockey has really grown, and people are picking it up and realizing it is truly a fun sport to play and a great game to watch.

When it comes to playing on the Cyclones team, it takes many hours of time on the road attending scouting combines across the Upper Midwest and country wide. The reason for all this work is to spread the word about what their program has to offer, just like college recruiters do for their colleges. However, most potential players want to hear of the team's history and if the player will be able to advance to the next level.

Speaking of levels, there are many levels one can advance to throughout their career. Starting at youth hockey, players can move up to high school level, then to the junior level where they will train and perfect their skills to advance in hopes to secure a scholarship to a D3 college or the National Hockey League (the sister league where advanced players go to D1 or D3 schools). From there, they will then be able to join the IIHF if they are the best of the best! Most players for the Cyclones team are at the Jr hockey level and plan to go pro.

Hockey has seen a lot more growth in the warmer-weather states. Currently there are players from Florida and the Upper Midwest on the Cyclones team, however they have had players from California as well as the East and West coasts. Hockey is a year-round sport, meaning if you don’t work in the summer months to advance your skills you are essentially falling behind your peers.

Bill mentions that growing up in Central Wisconsin, there has always been a lot of hockey, therefore you can only assume that it's the same way everywhere else. However, Zach grew up in the Southern part of the state where the only hockey he knew was another kid he went to school with that played in Fond du Lac. Other than that, it's not really on the radar in Southern Wisconsin, but it has continued to grow in areas like Madison and the suburbs of Milwaukee. Central Wisconsin continues to show a large level of support and passion for hockey. It’s not as large as it is in Minnesota, but it’s great to see it grow at both youth and high school levels.

When it comes to a day in the life of a Cyclones hockey player, there is a huge commitment to the sport. With their season starting mid-September and running to mid-March with a total of 47 games, they eat, breathe, and sleep hockey! They start their day from 9-11am on the ice, then head over to either the YMCA or CTI to get an off-the-ice workout in. If they have a part-time job to save up for college, they will go to work, Otherwise, when Thursday or Friday rolls around, they begin their long road trips going to places like St. Louis or Peoria to play games. Then by Monday they are starting all over again! During the off season many players go home, with about 30 players returning each year. On average, players are apart of the Cyclones for around 1.5 years, and usually aren't on the team longer than 2-3 years.

The team's current headquarters are located in the heart of Wausau which is the perfect size for them, with new features added yearly such as new scoreboards to help with fan growth. However, since the team rents the space from Marathon city, they haven't done many renovations to the space. Since the team does pay for the players' equipment, not having to renovate is kind of a blessing. When it comes to the Cyclones coaches, their head coach Nathan Oystrick has been with the team for the last two seasons. Nathan is a former NCAA D1 hockey player who played at Northern Michigan and has previous coaching experience with the Elmira Jackals, Atlanta Gladiators, Colorado Academy and Humboldt Broncos. The assistant coach is Luke Meyer, and the goal tender assistant coach is Taylor Carey, who is the one to get the goalies both physically and mentally tough. You must be tough when playing hockey, just in case a puck hits them at upwards of 100MPH – which is a common occurrence.

When it comes to where the players stay during the season, there are many host hockey families that take the players in while they’re in town from September to March. Many times, this is the first time for these boys to be away from home, so they typically form lifelong friendships and bonds with their host families.

Players are also very involved in the community in a number of ways, such as hanging lights at the 400 block and working with local youth hockey players. There is also a community partner program that Zach is the proudest of, as they work to help non-profit organizations in the community. Some of their community activities include Chuck the Puck at home games, 50/50 raffles, Pink the Rink game, Military recognition, etc. Since this is volunteer work, the players do not get a stipend. They do this because they’re good people!

So, what does game day look like? Well, the arena can hold up to 1,000 spectators. Cyclones games are all family friendly events, though there is security in case things get a little too rowdy. They usually have excellent turnout for every game, however Zach stated that there are 5-8 games a season that tend to draw the largest crowds, including the first home game, the bobblehead night, and the Corgi and Wiener Dog races! This year the Corgi races are on January 20^th and the Wiener Dog races are on February 2^nd.

The dog races, held at half time, are some of the most popular games, with seats usually selling out before game night. Since the ice is like walking on snow, it’s safe for dogs! The race starts at the goal line and ends 90 feet away at center ice. The first dog to reach center ice wins. Each dog is accompanied by two adults, one on each end. There are roughly 30 dogs, and the crowd can sometimes get the dogs scared, confused, and even excited - so the adult at center ice tends to hold something enticing for the dog to get to. 

We had a great time talking to Zach about the Wausau Cyclones hockey team. He said he wants everyone to know to get out this winter and enjoy a Cyclones hockey game – and we wholeheartedly agree!

Road Trip: Sylvan Hill Park

Open from December 10^th to March 5^th, Sylvan Hill Park is the only tubing hill in the Wausau area. This park includes six slopes down and two wire tows to pull you back up the hill. The west hill has a vertical drop of 133 feet, while the east hill has a vertical drop of 120 feet! When you’re clinging to a snow tube, that’s quite a ride!

In the non-winter seasons, Sylvan Hill Park also offers mountain bike, hiking/walking trails as well as picnic areas and reservable shelters! When you’re visiting the Wausau area, be sure to check it out!