University of Alabama fans will have a chance to meet their new coach this weekend in Pelham as the Tide hosts the University of Florida Gators.

&8220;I truly believe in a few years we&8217;re going to have a chance of becoming a national championship team,&8221; the new &8217;Bama coach said.

No, it&8217;s not Nick Saban, but another head coach with national title experience.

Daren Awender, who helped the University of Alabama-Huntsville capture two national crowns in 1996 and 1998 as a player, will lead his &8217;Bama Hockey Frozen Tide team on the ice at the Pelham Civic Complex for a homecoming double-header this weekend.

Yes, hockey.

Awender took the reins of the new UA club sport last year when approached by students Will Damare, Adam English and Josh Stokes.

&8220;I was just blown away by it. To be part of something like this is just an honor. To represent the University of Alabama, no matter what sport, is anybody&8217;s dream,&8221; Awender said.

The team, only the second collegiate team currently active in the state, was a dream of Damare&8217;s as he entered college in the fall of 2005, and, with the help of his dad, Buddy, it soon became a reality.

After playing a short probationary schedule in their inaugural 2005-06 season, the Frozen Tide loaded their calendar with 19 games this season against top ACHA Division III schools and five of the other six teams from Southeastern Conference affiliated schools.

Stokes, the team president, helped lead the charge to bring the state&8217;s new team to the Pelham Civic Complex, where they practice once a week and play home games.

&8220;Pelham has been fantastic. We want to thank every body in Pelham and Shelby County for giving us a home,&8221; Stokes said. &8220;If we ever do get a rink in Tuscaloosa, we&8217;re going to be sad to see Pelham go, but I don&8217;t see that happening in the near, near future. Pelham&8217;s home.&8221;

Ideally the Tide would like to see their program grow into a NCAA program.

&8220;In order to move the program to that level there would have to be some type of joint effort by all of the SEC teams for the simple fact that we are in the south. The expenses of traveling to play other teams across te nation would be astronomical,&8221; Awender said.

Players hope to draw a packed house this weekend similar to the glass-banging one they experienced earlier this season in Kennesaw, Ga.

&8220;That&8217;s the kind of enviroment we want teams to come into here, teams like Florida and Tennessee our main Alabama rivals,&8221; Stokes said.

&8220;We&8217;re fast paced and very passionate about the sport. We take bruises and bleed, and we eat, sleep and breath it,&8221; said Damare.

UA hosts Florida at 8:30 p.m. this Friday and Saturday night. Admission is $5, but free for children wearing a hockey jersey