Kyle roller hockey team wins championship

KYLE — Caleb Harter and his brother, Carl, grew up in sunny San Jose, California. Free time was spent picking the perfect hockey stick, practicing hitting the puck and learning all the rules of the game — only it was on rollerblades. After graduating college, the pair took job opportunities in Austin, where they believed their roller hockey career ended. This was until they visited Ash Pavilion in Kyle and created the Labeda Chupacabras.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ACTION SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY
Labeda Chupacabra player Lance Nadon maneuvers across the rink in a game against the Orange County Snipers in Irvine, California. The Labeda Chupacabras won the game 8-2.[/caption]

Roller hockey is a variant of ice hockey played on tile using rollerblades and while the rules are generally the same, there are only four players on each team rather than five. According to Caleb, the sport is popular in other parts of the country, but not in Texas.

The creation of the program began after the brothers visited Ash Pavilion and met the owners in February 2022. They both became involved at the rink and in August 2022 — when they discovered that there were several roller hockey players that had played in a tournament before — they established a program.

“It was totally out of the blue that we started this program and it was not a real ambition for us, but that quickly changed,” he explained. “We came in and saw [that] the culture is amazing at the rink. Everyone was super willing to get involved and help out with anything.”

The name, Labeda Chupacabras, comes from the partner company, Labeda Hockey, and the latter part comes from, according to Caleb, a lackluster story: “Embarrassingly, it was two Californians trying to figure out a mascot to best represent South Texas [and] Central Texas because we’re playing in these national tournaments … We were asking a bunch of locals and Chupacabra was a cool one that came up.”

“The goal [was to] have anyone who wants to play in a tournament level roller hockey have the chance to,” Caleb said. “We don’t cut anybody. Basically, if you want to play, we’ll find a team for you and we’ll find a division that’s your skill level.”

There are currently three adult leagues in the program: beginner, intermediate and advanced. Then, select players travel to various tournaments throughout the nation.

The most recent being NARCh Winternationals, held in Irvine, California. The tournament ran from Jan. 11-15 and hosted more than 30 teams from throughout the world, stated Caleb. The Chupacabras went undefeated, winning against five teams prior to the finals match — The Pama Labeda Golden Knights.

“The final program was against the top program in the country, so everyone was cheering for us to win — the underdogs,” Caleb said. “It was our first time ever being in that level of the game, so our guys were pretty excited [and] nervous. For a lot of us, it was probably the biggest game we’ve ever played.”

He began to recount the game, noting that in the first 10 minutes, they made the first goal, with the Knights quickly following up with their own. Moments later, the Chupacabra’s took the lead once more.

The stands were packed with fans, from both Kyle and Irvine locals, blocking out the sound of their pounding hearts with cheers: “It was a lot to take in.”

“In the last 15 minutes of the game, there was a fight that broke out, so one of our players, my brother, got put in the penalty box,” Caleb laughed. “We’re up two to one at this point [but] we have to play shorthanded and readjust our lines … We had to change up our whole strategy, which was a little bit of mayhem.”

In hockey, a team can pull the goalie, giving them an extra player. This is what the Knights elected to do, yet it was not enough against the Chupacabras. The Kyle team scored twice more, securing its victory as the Winternationals Men’s Silver Champions. Final score: Labeda Chupacabras 4, Pama Labeda Golden Knights 1.

“It was a win for the guys on the team, but it’s also a win for the whole community at the rink because the whole community was involved in the program.” emphasized Caleb.

This win not only boosted their confidence, but opened future opportunities for the roller hockey league.

“[It] got us a lot of publicity within the hockey community, so a lot of people are finding out about us or finding out about Kyle. It legitimizes our rink a lot more. We’re no longer just an outdoor rink in a park in Texas. We’re national champions that play on an outdoor rink in Texas,” he said. “It definitely opened up the opportunity for sponsorships for the team to help cover the costs for all these flights and stuff for tournaments.”

As for the future, a back-to-back win would be great, explained the hockey player, but a bigger goal, down the line, would be to have a child that learned to play roller hockey at Ash Pavilion win a championship. The program currently has a recreational league for children with more than 100 participants, but they do not travel under the team name, yet.

He also stated that although a win is big for the whole roller hockey community, it would be great to win regional tournaments, as well, and in each division.

An opportunity to see the champions in action is on March 23-24 in a charity tournament at Ash Pavilion, located at 1231-1301 W Center Street. Teams traveling from El Paso, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Mexico will be in attendance to raise money for Dell Children’s Medical Center.

For more information or to keep up with the team’s activities, follow them on Facebook at or on Instagram at @Labeda_Chupacabra.