Discover when hockey was played outdoors at Loomis.
 

Sheffield Arnold’s Campus Plan, 1913

Landscape Architect Sheffield Arnold designed an outdoor hockey pond in the original plan for the campus. The Hartford Courant reported, “the skating pond is to be large enough for two hockey rinks, and will be of moderate depth so the safety of the pupils will always be secure.”
 

Loomis’ First Hockey Team, 1917

Loomis Hockey debuted on January 13, 1917 with the first interscholastic game against Windsor Locks High School. Playing before what the LOG called “an unusually large gallery for a new sport”, Loomis came away with the 4-3 win. According to the LOG, “The game itself was exciting at all times and in many instances thrilling. Both sides showed a tendency to rough it up in a perfectly fair manner.”
 

Hockey Game in the Meadows, 1929

During the summer of 1929, the meadows’ cow pond was dredged out to the size of a regulation hockey rink. The LOG reported that it was for exclusive use by the first squad. This view shows school buildings in the background, including the Phelps House that once stood on the current site of the Katharine Brush Library.
 

Clearing the Ice, 1931

A horse drawn snowplow cleared the Loomis hockey pond once cold weather had produced enough solid ice to handle the weight of the horse. Weather could play havoc with hockey schedules. The 1934 Loomiscellany noted, “for the first time in several years, the hockey pond froze over this winter and stayed frozen for the entire season.”
 

Intramural Hockey, 1944

Ludlow Club Hockey, wearing striped uniforms and coached by Charlie Pratt, takes on an opponent in this intramural game. During WW II, interscholastic athletics were curtailed because of tire and gas rationing. Mr. Batchelder said, “We’re putting first things first.” He also rightly believed that a vigorous intramural program would increase participation in athletics.
 

Loomis Plays on Artificial Ice, 1961

The Alumni Skating Rink, located near the current site of the RAC, opened in 1956. This artificial rink, according to the LOG, had an impressive “total freezing capacity of 150 tons and boasts the greatest-freezing-power of any other rink in this vicinity.” No longer would Loomis hockey teams be dependent on cold winter weather for playable ice conditions.