The Betty Engelstad Sioux Center Olympic Arena, which is used for many of the intramural hockey games. Photo by Chester Beltowski/The Dakota Student.

Following various drunken shenanigans, spectators were prohibited from attending intramural ice hockey games at the Ralph Engelstad Arena, but now officials are considering lifting the ban.

“We’re hoping to have spectators back for ice hockey,” said Patrick Marcoe, coordinator of RecSports and Special Events.

The ban was put in place as a result of some incidents last year, Marcoe said. Depending on how things play out, the ban could go away.

“What they’re considering is possibly letting them come for playoffs,” Intramural Manager Chris Lee said. However, that’s only “if the regular season goes well.”

“The one who made the decision was Jody over at the Ralph,” Lee said, referring to Jody Hodgson, General Manager of the Ralph Engelstad Arena. “We would definitely like to have spectators, but that was his call.”

According to Lee, Marcoe and Hodgson met a few weeks ago and came up with the idea of allowing spectators to come back if everything goes smoothly this season. Marcoe said the ban being removed is “more likely than anything.”

“Assuming everything goes well, we can have spectators back at the end of the semester,” Marcoe said.

Past problems

A number of incidents lead up to the ban. “It was last year when things happened and we had to call university police for some underage drinking,” Marcoe said.

The underage drinking that occurred was because of spectators bringing in alcohol and people drinking in the locker rooms, according to Lee. However, “it’s not always intramurals that have been causing the Ralph problems,” he said.

The Grand Forks Herald recently reported deputies of the Grand Forks County Sheriff’s Department cited two people for alcohol violations at a men’s hockey game at the Ralph on Oct. 10.

The deputies wore plain clothes and sought out people that appeared to be under 21.

Out of nine people that they stopped, two were cited. One individual was cited for minor in consumption and the other for minor in possession.

The article said a federal grant awarded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration funded the deputies’ efforts.

A separate Herald article from February reported that sheriff’s deputies cited four individuals, three for minor in consumption and one for providing alcohol to a minor, at the Band Perry concert at the Ralph on Feb. 9.

Jamie Hutchinson is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected].