Athletics officials should give serious consideration to the women’s ice hockey club’s request for varsity status.
This year’s petition marks the third time since the club was formed in 1995 that the team has attempted to become varsity.
There are 69 schools in NCAA divisions I to III that host varsity women’s hockey teams. Wayne State University is the only Michigan college with a varsity women’s ice hockey squad.
MSU hosts 11 women’s varsity sports.
In 1996, the women’s ice hockey club applied for varsity status. It tried again in 1999, but was told it wasn’t in the budget.
We believe it would be in MSU’s best interest to grant varsity status to the women’s ice hockey team this time around.
Since it formation, the women’s hockey club has shown time and again it intends to be a serious competitor on the national scene.
This year, the club has achieved a No. 2 national ranking and will travel to Atlanta as a top seed to compete in the American Collegiate Hockey Association’s national tournament March 1-3.
Since the U.S. women’s hockey team won the gold medal in the 1998 Winter Olympics, the female version of the ice sport has grown in popularity across the country.
It would be wise for MSU to mark itself among the leaders in the nation with the formation of women’s ice hockey as a varsity staple in college sports.
The sooner MSU can throw its hat into the varsity women’s hockey ring, the better the university’s chance will be to recruit top players from Canada and the East Coast to earn its place in the national spotlight.
Finances should not be a major factor in prolonging the ice hockey club’s varsity status. It is typical that women’s sports spend more money than they generate, as do most men’s sports.
So long as the athletics department depends on men’s football and basketball to generate the greatest revenue to pay for other varsity sports, it should not hold women’s ice hockey to a greater standard.
In fact, the women’s club has shown great interest in raising most of its needed revenue itself. John Munn, president of the club’s booster program, said his goal would be to generate $250,000 to $500,000 from corporate and private sponsors to fund the sport’s first varsity season.
The addition of varsity women’s ice hockey team also could help MSU in other athletic areas, such as Title IX compliance.
In 2000, the university cut the men’s gymnastics program from its varsity sport status to comply with gender equality legislation.
Of the 17 ways to comply with Title IX regulations, MSU uses the population standard that requires the percentage of male and female athletes to remain within 2 percent of the undergraduate population.
A varsity women’s ice hockey squad could open the way to bringing men’s gymnastics back to the varsity scene.
The women of the MSU ice hockey club have earned their chance to prove themselves on the varsity circuit. Athletics officials should give them a chance.
