The St. James - George Washington Revolutionaries
- Gregory Koch
- 21 hours ago
- 5 min read
Photos by Gregory Koch, Stadium Journey
Stadium Info FANFARE Score: 2.43
The St. James 6805 Industrial Road
Springfield, VA 22151
Year Opened: 2018
Capacity: 900
Revolutionary Hockey in Springfield
The St. James is a 450,000 square foot sports complex and gym in Springfield, Virginia. It contains facilities for just about every sport you can imagine, including batting cages, a football field, a swimming pool, an ice hockey rink, and much more. For members, it also offers workout facilities, fitness classes, and even a water park.
Many amateur teams call The St. James home, from youth to high school to collegiate. George Washington University's club ice hockey team plays its home games at the ice rink at The St. James and competes in Division II of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA), which sponsors the sport at a club level and is considered a step below the NCAA.
The St. James contains two ice rinks, the North Rink and the South Rink, but as they are nearly identical, share a concourse, and are both located within one ice house, the details in this review accurately describe both. If you arrive early, just be sure to check which rink GW is playing on.
Food & Beverage 3
Although there is no place to buy food in the ice house itself, Vim & Victor offers grab-and-go food options and is located directly to your left as you enter The St. James through the front doors. It offers snacks and drinks such as bottled water, as well as hot options such as burgers, fries, and flatbread pizzas. You can also buy a grilled chicken parmesan sandwich, chicken tenders, a steak burrito wrap, associated salads, and healthy bowls. Prices for the food can be fairly high, with a burger costing $15.25, although if you're just getting a bottle of water, you should be fine. There are tables to eat at in Vim & Victor if you arrive early, or you can take your food with you to the rink.
Although the selection here is above average, we are only assigning The St. James an average rating in this category because Vim & Victor closes at 8 PM, and most GW games will run well past then. In fact, many of them don't even start until after 8 PM due to rink availability, so you will be out of luck on those nights.
Atmosphere 2
The St. James is a huge complex but getting to the ice house is very simple. Once you enter through the front doors, walk back, and the ice rink will be on your right once you get past the football field that's on your left. You will walk through the glass doors, and the South Rink will be on your left, while the North Rink will be on your right.
If you do not know which rink GW is playing on, you can check their website, try to figure it out from what's happening on the rinks when you get there, or just wait for warmups. The rink itself is actually located on the lower level - these directions will take you to the mezzanine seating that fans watch the game from, which is located in a balcony above the rink.
On the mezzanine, you will find a few rows of blue, plastic, bleacher-style seating. Although you are very close to the rink in terms of horizontal distance, you will be fairly high up in vertical distance, which makes for some unusual viewing angles. There is no way to be right up against the glass; unfortunately, you will be above the boards and behind protective netting. Still, you should have a good view of the action.
Unfortunately, that's just about all there is to say about this place. Music is sometimes, but not always, played during breaks in the action, and there is no PA announcer or anything like that. The good news is you will be able to hear a lot of the shouting that's happening on the ice. Hockey purists may love this, but everyone else will be bored.
A scoreboard is located above the goal furthest from the entrance. It shows the score, time, and time remaining on penalties. Whether it is on your right or left will depend on whether GW is playing on the North or South Rink that day. Each rink has its own scoreboard, but they are all the same.
Neighborhood 3
The street name Industrial Road makes it abundantly clear where The St. James is. This is an industrial area, and in the immediate vicinity, you will find warehouses, an auto body shop, and other similar businesses, but not many places you'd want to go to before or after the game. If you head south along Backlick Road, you will soon come to a shopping center with a pizza place as well as several places serving cuisine that fans may not be as familiar with - Colombian, Salvadoran, and Yemeni, just to name a few. Unfortunately, the location nestled around a massive freeway interchange and some railroad tracks means you are better off going elsewhere before or after the game.
Fans 1
For the game Stadium Journey attended, there were only about a dozen fans in attendance, and half of them were cheering for the Revolutionaries' opponents that night, having made the trip down to see a family member on that team. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much interest in watching GW hockey, and the long distance from the campus in Foggy Bottom, combined with the lack of transportation, means that pretty much no students attend.
Access 4
Although The St. James's location near a massive freeway interchange hurts the neighborhood rating, it helps it here. The Springfield Interchange connects Interstates 95, 395, and 495 and is known locally as the Mixing Bowl due to the weaving traffic is required to get from one road to another. All of those roads provide easy access to The St. James from nearby exits, so you may not even have to go through the Mixing Bowl itself.
Once you arrive at The St. James, you will find a massive parking lot, although spaces closest to the building are reserved for members. Although the lot can get crowded, you should have no trouble parking as people are coming and going at all times. As mentioned above, you will walk through the main doors and go straight back to the ice house. If you are unsure where to go, the helpful staff at the front desk will give you directions. Just make sure they know you are watching the hockey game, not playing in it, as people who are actually using the rink will need to enter through different doors on a different level.
One thing to keep in mind is that due to rink availability, many GW games start well into the evening and end after The St. James closes. If you are attending one of these games, you will be allowed to stay until the end, but you must arrive before they lock the front doors, or you will not be able to get in.
Return on Investment 3
There is no cost to attend a GW ice hockey game at The St. James, and parking is likewise free. Food at Vim & Victor can get expensive, but this is an easily avoidable expense - eat before or after. Besides, if the game starts after 8 PM, as many do, you will not even have a choice.
That being said, there isn't enough here to earn more than an average value.
Extras 1
The St. James itself is worthy of an extra star here, as it is a massive sports venue that houses just about every sport you can think of.
Final Thoughts
A George Washington Revolutionaries ice hockey game at The St. James is a basic experience. Unfortunately, there is not much interest in this program, and most people don't even know it exists.
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