The History of Rampage Women's Hockey

The Rampage Women's Hockey Club has been providing a place for adult women of all skill levels in the southwestern Chicagoland suburbs to play hockey since 2007.

Let there be Ice...and One Hockey Team

After the dissolution of the Rocket Ice Penguins (Bolingbrook) in 2007, 10 women from that team moved to the newly-opened International Ice Centre (Romeoville) to continue playing hockey. B Borrowing the Huskies logo, they played as the “Hounds” in the Blue division and made it to the WCHL playoffs. In the spring of 2008 the name “RAMPAGE” was voted in from a straw poll of the original players.  

The Red Jerseys and Two Teams  

Major changes came in the fall of 2008. A second team was added, our logo was commissioned from Chrystal Cleary of Grafton, MA and we received our first order of red jerseys and warm-ups. Looking official, our two teams played in the WCHL's Grey and Blue divisions.  Rampage now had 23 skaters and 2 goalies.  Six of those skaters came in second as the Checkahoes at the USAH Pond Hockey Tournament (Eagle River, WI) in February of 2009 and Rampage took the C Division Championship at Brew City (Milwaukee) that spring.  

Evals, Fundraisers and Three teams  

Expanding further, Rampage instituted evaluations in August of 2009 and a third team came on board.  In addition to welcoming 12 Green players, the team incorporated as a not for profit. Our numbers grew to 36 skaters, 3 goalies, and 3 coaches and we skated as Rampage White, Blue, and Green. Also that fall the team conducted it’s first fundraiser “Pack the Bench” for 3-yr old Coleson, newly diagnosed with Leukemia. We raised over $1,000 for Coleson’s family during a friendly 1-hour exhibition game. On a roll, our first “MLF Nite” in April 2010 raised several thousands of dollars, which we donated it to the Mario Lemieux Foundation to support pediatric cancer research.  Rampage teammates regularly began participating in 5k runs and triathlons for various charities.  In February 2010 three teams went to Eagle River, WI (Checkahoes, Puckahoes, Hookahoes,) and Rampage again won the C Division in Brew City in May.    

Website, South Division Champs, Rink Changes Hands  

In August 2010, www.Rampagehockey.org went live and offered the organization’s 39 skaters online registration and payment of hockey fees. That fall, three teams entered the League as Grey, Blue, and Green, with Grey winning the South Conference in March 2011.  (The Grey Overall title went to the Brew City Blades in a 4-1 win over Rampage.) The same three teams went to Eagle River, and Rampage had it’s first “three-peat” in Milwaukee with the tournament team again winning the Brew City championship. Spring 2011 saw Rampage Grey as the WCHL South Conference Champions and we followed up the amazing season with another wildly successful MLF Nite, nearly doubling our previous year's donation in 2 hours. Chaired by Lee Ann, Brandi, Sherry, and Coach Steve, the event blew our socks off.  Our home rink was sold to a Canadian company and IIC became “Canlan Ice Sports”.   

Fall Forward  

Rampage entered the WCHL with 45 skaters, 2 subs, and 4 goalies on 3 teams - White, Blue, and Green - in the fall of 2011.  Our most winning season for all teams, White won it's division in the south conference and made it to playoffs.  Additionally, our third MLF Nite netted almost twice as much as previous years.  

A Ramplosion!

Rampage grew again and iced four teams in the WCHL for the 2012-13 season.  Fifty-six skaters and six goalies coached by ten men and women. The numbers and talent levels made it possible to resurrect our Grey team from a season hiatus. Our White, Grey, Blue, and Green teams were poised for their best season to date, fortified by the women who have have made Rampage their hockey home.  Three out of the four teams would make it to the playoffs and our White team not only won the White division, but then went on to play in California at Nationals. While they didn’t take home a title, they most definitely had a great time.  

Spring Back!  

The 2013-2014 season saw many changes as we said goodbye to our founder and long-time President, Maria. She and her family relocated back to their hometown, but she remains in our hearts and minds as we began our new season, keeping her wonderful legacy alive. We retired her jersey number, 4.

The Rampage spawned two new teams in the WCHL this season, the Chi Town Sharks Red, comprised of our former White division championship team and the Mayhem, comprised of many of our former Blue and Green teams.

We also began our Cross Ice 4 Cash fundraisers to help supplement our fees and a pay for unexpected expenses. We held 4 Cross Ice 4 Cash mini-tournaments throughout the season, all of which sold out.

The Rampage Grey continued on with their full complement, plus 1 and the Rampage Green supplemented their roster with NINE brand new amazing women. A very successful season saw the ladies of Grey take home the WCHL championship title, the first in their history.

Pressing Forward

In 2014-2015, we rebuilt our Blue team, welcomed back our Grey team and brought in a few new ladies for our Green team. We also continued our Cross Ice 4 Cash tournaments in November, January and March raising nearly $4,000 to help pay for some new jerseys and our coaches. We welcomed a new coach to our family - Coach Dan - and the Grey team won both their division as well as the conference, but were unable to defend their title in the playoffs. 

Moving Upward

In 2015-2016, the WCHL realigned the divisions and our Grey team moved to the White (B) Level. With the addition of a few skilled players, we combined players from Grey and Blue to create a new Blue team and added a few new girls at the Green level. The Cross Ice 4 $ events continue to be very popular, raising enough money to send all three teams to playoffs. This year, the White team went undefeated in both the regular season as well as the play offs and brought home another White Banner and our Green Team went 8-3-1 in the regular season, giving them the confidence to win it all during Playoffs. The Rampage now have banners at the Green, Grey and White levels, as well as 4 championships in the past 5 years.

We want to thank all the coaches who have helped us get to where we are today - Rocky, Vic, Cody, Scott, Steve, Jonathan, Jason, Craig and Dan - and of course all the women who play and have played on our team. This phenomenal organization, "Rampage Women's Hockey,” would not exist had you not believed it possible to build this team together. Thank you!     

Post Script  

As always, we invite you to be a part of our great organization. Contact us at [email protected] for more information on how YOU can be part of the Rampage family.

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