Perseverance has paid off for two City College students as the inaugural roller hockey season is set to drop the puck on Oct. 23.

Ramsin Jacob, 21, and Chaz Donati, 20, are passionate about roller hockey and began their quest to form a college club team earlier this year.

Despite obstacles, including a lack of participation, the two pressed on and now have a competitive team in place to take on the likes of UCSB, San Francisco State, CSU Long Beach and others.

Jacob and Donati will coach and play for the City College team.

Jacob, a San Jose native, has been playing hockey since he was nine years old. Donati, from Colorado, has 15 years of ice and roller hockey experience.

The two met at City College with the common goal of starting a roller hockey program.

“We knew there was local interest because UCSB has a hockey program,” Jacob said. “We wanted to give the SBCC students the same opportunity.”

The two player/coaches also want to promote interest in the sport.

“We want to bring SBCC a new, upbeat and intense sport that students can get involved in,” Donati said.

Roller hockey is played on a rink with five players per team-two on offense, two on defense, and a goaltender. A team requires one less skater than ice hockey, and fewer restrictions. Roller hockey is played at a faster pace.

Jacob and Donati met in June, and together promoted tryouts with flyers and information booths on campus. The word spread and participation exceeded expectations.

“We had 40 people try out,” Donati said. “Unfortunately, we can only carry twelve players, leaving many on the bubble. We hope they’ll return to keep the team going next year.”

The team will begin playing on Oct. 23 in a tournament at the Silver Creek Sportsplex in San Jose.

The team will play a minimum of eight tournaments resulting in a 32 game season. City College will play in two tournaments on Jan. 22 and 29 at the UCSB Recreational Center. Times are to be determined.

Dr. Ben Partee, Dean of Student Services, is positive about the new club.

“The neat part is this new sport will keep the young men doing something they want to do,” Partee said. “I’m really enthusiastic about it. We want young people to stay active and we didn’t want to put any barriers on the sport.”

Jacob and Donati have responsibilities to the team both as players and coaches.

“It is an advantage being a player and coach,” Donati said. “The guys on the team are experienced, and being able to coach from the rink in game situations will help us.”

With hard work and dedication, Jacob and Donati achieved their goal of creating a roller hockey team for City College.

More importantly, they hope this sport grows in popularity and lives on long after their departure from the college.

With the season just around the corner, they feel that their team, dedicated and focused in practice, is rounding into form.

“It’s like one big puzzle and we have all the pieces. Now it’s just a matter of putting them together,” Jacob said. “I think we can be very competitive this season.”