Found out, via Twitter, yesterday that Niagara University is cutting its women's ice hockey team because it is too expensive--and apparently underperforming. Apparently, after a strong start (the team made the Frozen Four only four years after its establishment), the team has not done well.
The school, which has (according to the latest Department of Education data) a 59% female undergrad population, has 53% of its athletic opportunities going to women. That is with hockey. Without hockey that statistic goes to 45%. The school has announced it will add women's track and field. Right now it looks like NU has cross country for both men and women. The addition of track and field for women means that there will be "new" opportunities for female student athletes, but that some of those are likely to be filled by current cross country runners--which is fine and legal and all.
It's just a little disappointing that to save costs, the university has decided to draw support from it's women's ice hockey team, but keep the men's team, and add what will likely be fewer opportunities overall because of the duplicate athletes (of which NU currently has none).
Showing posts with label ice hockey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ice hockey. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Franklin Pierce adds sports
Knowing the state of the economy, the fiscal state of higher education, and--having attended school in New Hampshire--the fiscal issues faced by NH schools, we were a little surprised to read that Franklin Pierce University has announced it is adding several sports.
No word on how these sports will be financed but it appears that the university has every intention of adding women's ice hockey (it already has a men's ice hockey team), men's and women's track and field, sprint football. It will also reinstate men's cross country (previously cut in 2003 for unstated reasons).
Interesting. Especially interesting is sprint football--which I had never heard of. Turns out it's the same as regular intercollegiate football. But all players have to weigh less than 172 pounds.
Reading further though it appears that the differences go beyond body weight. There is no pre-season. There will be no athletic scholarships. And the roster will be kept at 65 players. Also, FPU will not be investing right away in a stadium. Administrators are making arrangements with local schools over use of their facilities. In its inaugural season--scheduled for 2012--they will play a reduced schedule.
I really can't think of a more responsible plan to add football (regardless of how much the players weigh!).
Again, no word on where the funds for these additions will come from. FPU is a private school, but still...
No word on how these sports will be financed but it appears that the university has every intention of adding women's ice hockey (it already has a men's ice hockey team), men's and women's track and field, sprint football. It will also reinstate men's cross country (previously cut in 2003 for unstated reasons).
Interesting. Especially interesting is sprint football--which I had never heard of. Turns out it's the same as regular intercollegiate football. But all players have to weigh less than 172 pounds.
Reading further though it appears that the differences go beyond body weight. There is no pre-season. There will be no athletic scholarships. And the roster will be kept at 65 players. Also, FPU will not be investing right away in a stadium. Administrators are making arrangements with local schools over use of their facilities. In its inaugural season--scheduled for 2012--they will play a reduced schedule.
I really can't think of a more responsible plan to add football (regardless of how much the players weigh!).
Again, no word on where the funds for these additions will come from. FPU is a private school, but still...
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Girls' Hockey in NY State
We at the Title IX Blog are big fans of women's ice hockey. And so we never turn down an opportunity to praise the growth of the sport.
After much planning, negotiations, and struggles girls' varsity hockey is heading to western New York. And apparently it was a long time coming--five years. Some are incredulous that it took this long. There will be seven teams in the Western New York Girls Hockey Federation. It is not clear, though, that they are all being sponsored by schools. Three of the seven are being "privately funded." Given the presence of the sport in the rest of the state plus the success of the "local" university team at Niagara, many see the formation of the federation as a very good thing.
As a recent NPR piece on Morning Edition noted, ice hockey is one of the fastest growing women's sports in the country.
After much planning, negotiations, and struggles girls' varsity hockey is heading to western New York. And apparently it was a long time coming--five years. Some are incredulous that it took this long. There will be seven teams in the Western New York Girls Hockey Federation. It is not clear, though, that they are all being sponsored by schools. Three of the seven are being "privately funded." Given the presence of the sport in the rest of the state plus the success of the "local" university team at Niagara, many see the formation of the federation as a very good thing.
As a recent NPR piece on Morning Edition noted, ice hockey is one of the fastest growing women's sports in the country.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Penn State elevates hockey
Both the men's and women's club ice hockey teams at Penn State will be elevated to varsity status. The announcement, which will likely contain the time table for the move, will come later this morning.
The teams are the beneficiaries of very generous Penn State alum Terrence Pegula who is giving $90 million to the university in order to make things happen, including the construction of an arena.
No official word on which conference the men's team will play in. (Big Ten doesn't have a hockey league though some are speculating that this addition will push them to add one and perhaps expand men's ice hockey in the midwest.) And not even a mention that the women will also need to join a league. (Ahem, ESPN.)
The teams are the beneficiaries of very generous Penn State alum Terrence Pegula who is giving $90 million to the university in order to make things happen, including the construction of an arena.
No official word on which conference the men's team will play in. (Big Ten doesn't have a hockey league though some are speculating that this addition will push them to add one and perhaps expand men's ice hockey in the midwest.) And not even a mention that the women will also need to join a league. (Ahem, ESPN.)
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Wisconsin School District Will Offer Girls Hockey
Earlier this year, high school freshman Morgan Hollowell and her father sued the Elmbrook School District in Wisconsin, challenging the district's decision to exclude girls from the hockey cooperative it is joining with another school district. Elmbrook officials cited low interest among girls as its reason for leaving them out of the plan.
It was recently reported in Athletic Business that in response to the pressure from the lawsuit, the school district has reversed its plan and will now enter into a similar cooperative for girls hockey. Though I could find no details about existing athletic opportunities in Elmbrook, unless athletic opportunities are roughly proportionate to the gender breakdown of the student body, under Title IX's three prong test, the district can't ignore unmet interest and ability among the underrepresented sex. While this aspect of the law would not require a school district to form a team when only a small number of girls (the article said 3) is interested in the sport, a different standard arguably applies when the decision isn't to form a team, but to join a cooperatives with other districts. It seems to me that the very fact Elmbrook was joining a cooperative suggests that there were not enough male hockey players at either or both of Elmbrook's high schools to field a team either. If the school district is going to accommodate boys' interests in that manner, it should similarly accommodate girls'.
It was recently reported in Athletic Business that in response to the pressure from the lawsuit, the school district has reversed its plan and will now enter into a similar cooperative for girls hockey. Though I could find no details about existing athletic opportunities in Elmbrook, unless athletic opportunities are roughly proportionate to the gender breakdown of the student body, under Title IX's three prong test, the district can't ignore unmet interest and ability among the underrepresented sex. While this aspect of the law would not require a school district to form a team when only a small number of girls (the article said 3) is interested in the sport, a different standard arguably applies when the decision isn't to form a team, but to join a cooperatives with other districts. It seems to me that the very fact Elmbrook was joining a cooperative suggests that there were not enough male hockey players at either or both of Elmbrook's high schools to field a team either. If the school district is going to accommodate boys' interests in that manner, it should similarly accommodate girls'.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
MIT cutting 8 sports
MIT announced yesterday that it will cut eight varsity sports from what was once the largest (tied with Harvard at 41 sports) roster of intercollegiate sports in the country.
Citing current and forthcoming budget issues (the institution as a whole is looking to save close to $150 million in the next few years), the athletic department and student life jointly presented the decision. At the end of this year men's and women's ice hockey (sniff), gymnastics, wrestling, golf, Alpine skiing, and pistol. (I know that looks like only seven; I assume that another one of the listed sports has a men's and women's team thus equalling eights squads total. But even the NYT didn't pick up on the this-doesn't-equal-eight listing. Oh wait--it's gymnastics according to the AP.)
The announcement was not a surprise within the MIT community. Rumors of some cuts have been around for a few weeks now. Factors that went into the decision included coaching turnover, student interest, practice facilities, competitive opportunities, and overall program costs. (The cuts are expected to save just under $500,000.) No specific mention of Title IX concerns (student interest could loosely be considered a Title IX issue). We shall see if that becomes an issue.
With 33 remaining sports, MIT will remain the largest intercollegiate program in Division III and no further cuts are expected. The institution is urging affected student-athletes to join or form club sports.
Citing current and forthcoming budget issues (the institution as a whole is looking to save close to $150 million in the next few years), the athletic department and student life jointly presented the decision. At the end of this year men's and women's ice hockey (sniff), gymnastics, wrestling, golf, Alpine skiing, and pistol. (I know that looks like only seven; I assume that another one of the listed sports has a men's and women's team thus equalling eights squads total. But even the NYT didn't pick up on the this-doesn't-equal-eight listing. Oh wait--it's gymnastics according to the AP.)
The announcement was not a surprise within the MIT community. Rumors of some cuts have been around for a few weeks now. Factors that went into the decision included coaching turnover, student interest, practice facilities, competitive opportunities, and overall program costs. (The cuts are expected to save just under $500,000.) No specific mention of Title IX concerns (student interest could loosely be considered a Title IX issue). We shall see if that becomes an issue.
With 33 remaining sports, MIT will remain the largest intercollegiate program in Division III and no further cuts are expected. The institution is urging affected student-athletes to join or form club sports.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Cutting hockey in Minnesota
I didn't think they could actually do that--that it was protected by the state charter or something. But it's true and a sign of how bad things actually are--in case you missed the speech last night. A Minnesota state school is cutting hockey. Minnesota-Crookston has decided to end its DII program to save money. No firm figures on just how much money, but the team's travel costs alone are $85,000-$90,000 annually.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
More hockey in Wisconsin
One might think that Wisconsin probably doesn't need more hockey, but really--can there ever be enough hockey? Especially women's hockey?
St Norbert College doesn't think so. It is banking on the regional popularity of the sport as it starts a women's team at their DIII (with football) institution.
Women's hockey (there is already a men's team) brings the total number of women's teams to 11. But it is the first sport to be added in a decade. This makes me think that St. Norbert may be seeking compliance with prong 2 given that women comprise 57 percent of the undergraduate population but receive only..ahem...32 percent of athletic opportunities. Yikes!
St Norbert College doesn't think so. It is banking on the regional popularity of the sport as it starts a women's team at their DIII (with football) institution.
Women's hockey (there is already a men's team) brings the total number of women's teams to 11. But it is the first sport to be added in a decade. This makes me think that St. Norbert may be seeking compliance with prong 2 given that women comprise 57 percent of the undergraduate population but receive only..ahem...32 percent of athletic opportunities. Yikes!
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