Gene Shlatz - As a youngster growing up in Enfield, Connecticut, Gene never actually thought organized hockey was in his deck of cards, despite his love for Phil Esposito, Bobby Orr and the Boston Bruins. Frozen ponds and pick up games were not uncommon in Enfield, but Gene and a few friends were only occasional participants.

Gene began playing organized hockey with Full Stride in the late 1990's, shortly after his two sons began playing. "[Full Stride] caught my interest as there were few formal leagues available to adults," Gene said. "Particularly for those who were relatively new to the game."

He began in Full Stride's first Instructional Hockey League. When he saw the original advertisements for the league, Gene was excited for the opprotunity to play hockey. "I met Dan McFall and was impressed with his easy going manner and desire to introduce hockey to those who never had the opprotunity to play. Once I got on the ice and discovered how great hockey can be, I was hooked," Gene said.

Away from the rink, Gene is a business man. Most of his collegues who live in major cities accross the U.S. are astonished, "and perhaps envious" when they learn that Gene is a hockey player. The aggressive, fast-paced game of hockey is quite a contrast to his day job. Hockey, to Gene, is many things; rewarding, motivating, enjoyable, but he also views hockey as somewhat therapeutic. "[Hockey] helps put things into perspective," he said, "and provides a release to the day-to-day pressures related to work."

Today, Gene is a member of team Nickel Back. "I look forward to Full Stride games as much today as when I first started playing," he said. A few years ago, Gene was a part of Nickel Back's league championship team. Despite feeling frustrated for sitting in the penalty box while the opposing team scored the tying goal to bring the game into overtime, Gene did score a goal at a crucial part of the game to help team Nickel Back win the championship in dramatic fashion.

Throughout the years, Gene has become very close with the people he has met in Full Stride. Nickel Back often gathers at resturants and pubs around Burlington after games, sometimes with players from the opposing team they just played. "In hockey," Gene said, "once you're off the ice, we're all friends."

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Mark Jennings - Admiring his daughter's spins, jumps, and tripple sow-cows from the stands at Leddy Arena, Mark Jennings had an epiphany.

"If we're going to spend this much time at the rink," he said to a couple other fathers next to him in the stands, "we're going to have to do something a little more manly!"

At age 35, Mark and hockey began their relationship when he decided to join a Friday night pick-up league at Leddy Arena.

Only a few short months later, in the fall of 1998, Full Stride began the Instructional Hockey League, which Mark joined. Having never played hockey as a kid, he didn't know the rules, basic skills, positioning, or flow of the game. 

"[The IHL] was perfect for someone like myself, who had never been coached in the sport before," he said. "I can honestly say that everything I know about hockey, I learned through Full Stride."

The structure of the IHL is what originally attracted him to Full Stride. It taught him the game and gave him the confidence to play in competitive games. Although Mark continues to play in various pick-up leagues, it's the competitive nature in Full Stride games that he really enjoys. 

"Playing with referees, league standings, playoffs, and championships creates a whole different atmosphere. There is something at stake in every game."

 The structure and competitive nature of Full Stride is what got him through the door, but it has been the friendships he's made from playing hockey that keeps him involved year in and year out. In the NHL, a player who is frequently traded and has played on a number of different teams through out the league is known as a "suitcase". In the beginning of his Full Stride career, Mark found himself on a number of different teams, meeting fellow Full Striders, and forming friendships. In 2005, Mark finally decided to unpack his suitcase and captain his own team in D3A, Nickel Back.

"My teammates have become a large part of my social life," Mark said. "Many of us now get together outside of hockey just to hang out together. I have made many friends through Full Stride." 

Mark has always been an athlete off the ice as well, but since that fateful day watching his daughter figure skate, Full Stride has been a major part of his athletic life. 

"I know that if I start coming off the ice winded," he said, "I have to step up my off-ice workouts. It keeps me honest!"

In 2009, Nickel Back made it to the championship game against the Alcohooligans. Through out that season, the two teams had been neck and neck, and because Mark had a number of friends playing on the Alcohooligans as well, a friendly rivalry had been formed. The championship game was a barn burner, but Nickel Back had held their lead until the final buzzer, and were crowned champions of D3A. 

"It came down to the wire and in the end we won! We were so ecstatic. It was awesome!"