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Findlay To Drop Hockey
by Adam Wodon/Columnist


The University of Findlay has become the third school in a year to announce its intention to drop its hockey program, joining Fairfield and Iona. At the end of this season Findlay will revert its program to club and intramural status.

"Strong colleges and universities look to the future, plan ahead, and establish priorities," said school president, Dr. DeBow Freed, who was just hired this past summer. "The University of Findlay has excellent academic programs which need support and budgets which need to be balanced."

Athletic director Steven Rackley said the choice was difficult, but necessary.

"We did what we could to make hockey a successful program here at The University of Findlay," said Rackley. "Considering our current academic push and the economic impact hockey had on our University, it became clear that we needed to make this change."

Findlay moved its entire athletic program from NAIA to NCAA Division II prior to the 1998 academic year. In so doing, it announced its intention to add a women's program and play Division I hockey. This coincided with the construction of a new on-campus facility, Clauss Arena.

But speculation that this move was forthcoming heated up in August when Craig Barnett, the only coach the program had ever known, announced his intention, just as the school year began, to leave and take a position at Lake Forest Academy, a prep school near Chicago. This followed the departure of his father-in-law as president at Findlay.

Former Wisconsin player and assistant Pat Ford was named the team's head coach.

When asked at the time, Barnett said he was hopeful this day wouldn't come.

"We don't think we're in trouble," said Barnett in August. "The administration made a commitment to the program, built a rink on campus, made a big commitment to the CHA. I would hope the new administration would live up to that."

But the new administration decided otherwise.

"The hockey program has brought many good features to the campus, the city of Findlay, and the area," said Freed. "Hockey players and coaches have represented the University well. It would be great if the program could be continued; unfortunately, it cannot."

The decision top drop the program leaves the future of Findlay's hockey conference, College Hockey America, in doubt. With just five teams set for next season, the CHA could lose its automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, which it enjoyed for the first time in 2003. According to NCAA by-laws, six teams are required for a conference to be eligible for an automatic bid.

Speculation has already begun in earnest, however, about the possibility of the CHA bringing in another program, such as one from Atlantic Hockey, in time for the 2004-05 season. Jack McDonald, athletic director at Quinnipiac, didn't rule out the possibility his school would seek entrance in the CHA, but with Vermont making moves towards Hockey East, the college hockey jigsaw puzzle is still too difficult to figure out.

"There's not an athletic director in this country that hasn't thought about a different league," said McDonald. "We're all keeping our eye out for what's best for our institution. But we don't know what college hockey is going to look like in a few years, so there's a lot of dominoes that still can and will fall out there."

Robert Morris, which is currently set to begin play in 2004-05 as an independent, is another possibility.

In fact, Findlay went through a similar process, which led to a host of issues over the years.

In September 2000, the MAAC refused to allow its schools to play Findlay, because of a provision in its own by-laws that prohibits league members from play provisional D-I opponents. The move was widely criticized at the time, particularly because it cut eight games from Findlay's schedule, dropping it below the 25-game threshold required for that season to count as one year of its provisional status. The hockey community scrambled to help Findlay add enough games to its schedule.

"This is really a short-term issue for Findlay. [But] the hockey community is still a minority in the ranks of the NCAA, and this is an unprecedented approach to the sport," said Hockey East commissioner Joe Bertagna at the time. "We usually help one another in the hockey community."

Later, when the CHA was applying for an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, there were questions surrounding the validity of Findlay's full Division I status. Just after gaining acceptance in the NCAA as a Division II institution, Findlay announced its intention to move to Division I hockey. But the NCAA had just passed a nine-year moratorium on teams playing up. Findlay asked for a waiver to play up in hockey, and got it. But when the time came for the automatic bid, there were questions over Findlay's paperwork regarding that waiver. Without Findlay, the CHA would not have received the auto-bid.

Again, the hockey community rallied to help Findlay's cause, the waiver was retroactively granted, and the CHA received the automatic bid.

It is because of this that today's announcement was greeted with such consternation from the hockey community.

"A lot of the hockey world went out of their way to support Findlay, the newer teams and conferences, to play them, to help them out," said Bruce McLeod, WCHA commissioner.

"It hurts on many levels. Some of these things are hard to take. Some of the ramifications are that the CHA may lose their bid, and on the personal level, Pat Ford and his family and all the others who have made a commitment to the Findlay program. Sometimes you can't control those outside forces that come in and affect our world of college hockey."

Meanwhile, McDonald forsees another opportunity for the college hockey community to rally and figure out a solution that's best for the sport as a whole.

"To panic, wouldn't be right," McDonald said. "To plan is the right thing to do. If the ACC and Big East can re-look at their alignment, there's no reason college hockey can't do the same.

"I think a hockey summit conference is something that should happen. Nobody works better than the hockey fraternity and right now we're at a crossroads."

After Findlay moved its athletic program to Division I, then-athletic director Mary Beth Kennedy, was filled with optimism.

"The success of the men's hockey program over the past three years has been phenomenal," she said in the summer of 1998. "The positive financial impact of the athletic department and the university has certainly contributed to this decision, as well as the opportunity to attract institutions like Army and Air Force to the UF campus."

But the tune was very different today.

"Athletic costs need to be in keeping with what the University can afford while supporting other programs well. The conversion of hockey will help a great deal in constraining total athletic costs and bringing them more in line with University goals to further satisfy programs in several areas," said Freed.

The school said that Clauss Arena will remain open as a 24-hour public-use facility.

Jim Connelly and Jayson Moy also contributed to this article.
This is a complete shock to me.

The University of Findlay has dumped massive amounts into its athletic facilities in recent years. In addition to the hockey rink, they've also built a new basketball gym, and recently purchased new land off campus for an athletic mall for new softball, baseball, and track stadiums.

The football program at Findlay has become very solid in recent years at well at the Division II level. I asked a friend who attended Findlay a while back and he said they were talking about provisional plans to move to Division 1. When he said that I replied that they were probably talking about a move to 1-AA in Football but he thinks they want to go all the way to 1-A. When I asked what conference they'd put Findlay in, his answer was CUSA since BG and Toledo are both in the MAC and they wouldn't want another MAC school too close.

Findlay is a CUSA candidate? :rolleyes:
The old, departed president was big on sports. He moved Findlay out of the NAIA and into the NCAA's Division II, where they seem to be doing quite well in the GLIAC.

The new president appears to be against such a focus on sports. It's possible Findlay could be headed for Division III.
Kit-Cat Wrote:Findlay is a CUSA candidate? :rolleyes:
Why not, they're about the same size as Rice.
Schadenfreude Wrote:The new president appears to be against such a focus on sports. It's possible Findlay could be headed for Division III.
I doubt they would back down out of Division II. The football program has found a nice home there.

It would be nice though if they could build a Football Stadium for UF. Playing at the High School stadium with limited parking is lame.
It's really sad to see schools losing hockey teams. I wish the economy would get better.

Speaking of hockey, has Ohio considered moving to NCAA play? I know Penn State and Illinois have.
LeftwichMU07 Wrote:Speaking of hockey, has Ohio considered moving to NCAA play? I know Penn State and Illinois have.
It is not well known, but Ohio was a founding member of the CCHA along with Bowling Green, Ohio State, Lake Superior State and St. Louis.

In fact, the league was run out of the MAC offices pretty much until Fred Jacoby left the MAC commissioner's post for the Southwest Conference in '82 or so. (A Bowling Green associate P.E. professor and CCHA ref ran it for a few more years, then the league office was moved from Bowling Green to Ann Arbor).

Anyway, Ohio dropped varsity hockey in 1973.

Much more history here:

<a href='http://www.ccha.com/history/moments.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.ccha.com/history/moments.asp</a>

And, finally -- Title IX makes hockey very difficult to pull off. I wouldn't be surprised to see more BCS schools adopt it and I'd expect more Division II schools to field Division I hockey programs.

But I don't see any more MAC schools trying it soon. Hockey isn't cheap, and we are talking about twenty scholarships, here.
I understand. Club hockey seems to be getting very popular though. I think hockey could easily become a bigger college sport, it's a shame more schools can't ice teams.

I wish Marshall would get a team again. I remember going down to the Tri-State rink when I was younger and watching the Herd play the local minor team, the Blizzard, in a scrimmage. If I remember correctly, Marshall was winning. (That's how bad the Blizzard were.)

I also hear EMU is on probation. 03-lol
LeftwichMU07 Wrote:I also hear EMU is on probation. 03-lol
EMU's club hockey team was suspended for the remainder of the season by the school on a trumped up BS "hazing" rap. The club hockey team was actually ranked nationally by the ACHA. Many of us were hoping to see hockey go varsity but now that is not likely. 03-banghead
Do the Miami, Bowling Green and Western Michigan varsity hockey programs have a negative impact on attendance at those schools' basketball games? Do they compete for fans? I have never understood why those schools don't have better basketball attendance. Just wondering.
I wouldn't think so, unless games were scheduled at the same time, which is unlikely. MAC schools aren't the biggest schools in the world, and the fact that the MAC is considered a Mid-Major in basketball and doesn't get as much coverage as football probably decreases intrest.
[quote="LongtimeFan"] Do the Miami, Bowling Green and Western Michigan varsity hockey programs have a negative impact on attendance at those schools' basketball games? Do they compete for fans? I have never understood why those schools don't have better basketball
Schadenfreude Wrote:
LeftwichMU07 Wrote:Speaking of hockey, has Ohio considered moving to NCAA play? I know Penn State and Illinois have.
It is not well known, but Ohio was a founding member of the CCHA along with Bowling Green, Ohio State, Lake Superior State and St. Louis.

In fact, the league was run out of the MAC offices pretty much until Fred Jacoby left the MAC commissioner's post for the Southwest Conference in '82 or so. (A Bowling Green associate P.E. professor and CCHA ref ran it for a few more years, then the league office was moved from Bowling Green to Ann Arbor).

Anyway, Ohio dropped varsity hockey in 1973.

Much more history here:

<a href='http://www.ccha.com/history/moments.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.ccha.com/history/moments.asp</a>

And, finally -- Title IX makes hockey very difficult to pull off. I wouldn't be surprised to see more BCS schools adopt it and I'd expect more Division II schools to field Division I hockey programs.

But I don't see any more MAC schools trying it soon. Hockey isn't cheap, and we are talking about twenty scholarships, here.
Title IX killed KSU varsity hockey in 1994. They were in the CCHA for two years. I'm still pissed about that one! :mad:
What exactly is Title IX? I've heard about it but never got around to researching it.
Where have you been? Hopefully sacrcasm, but i'll explain. Briefly, Men's and women's sport scholarships and money have to be equal. Football offests men by 85 scholarships, so you need more women's sports.
I know some about it, I just wasn't sure. I thought it might've gone deeper, as it's hard to believe that's the only thing that can kill a hockey team.

So what you're saying is that schools with Football like Michigan and Minnesota have more women's sports than other schools? You would think the school would have more say in athletics than the NCAA.
Women's rowiing is becoming more popular, because it takes up 20-30 scholarships to have a row team i think.
But yes most of these schools try to offset their scholarships by having women's sports that take up more money and scholarships. Ohio State has 40 sports programs now.
LeftwichMU07 Wrote:I know some about it, I just wasn't sure. I thought it might've gone deeper, as it's hard to believe that's the only thing that can kill a hockey team.
It's a real issue. For Division I-A schools, offering eight-five football scholarships puts you in a huge hole right out of the gate. The goal of Title IX is that these male athletic scholarships be balanced by athletic scholarships for women.

So, to go and offer another 20 or so scholarships for hockey means that many more scholarships need to be offered for women. Any school needs to take on that challenge with eyes wide open.

Further muddling matters is the fact that Bowling Green has historically had substantially more women than men. So a school like Bowling Green ought to be going even further so that athletic scholarships match the complexion of the student body.

This isn't as big an issue for Big Ten schools and other BCS schools because their football and basketball programs bring in enough money to offer a bunch of extra womens sports without cutting as many men's sports.

That's why I've said BCS schools are more likely to put forward hockey programs in the future. So are Division II programs (which can play Division I hockey), and Division I-AAA programs. Division II programs aren't offering nearly as many football scholarships and may not be required to field a minimum number of mens teams. The same is true of Division I-AAA programs, which, by definition, don't have football teams.

So it has been tough for Bowling Green to maintain a hockey team. BGSU has cut its mens sports pretty much to the bone in order to maintain some semblance of balance. I think we are at the Division I-A minimum. And even so, I'm not sure BGSU is exactly a model of Title IX compliance.

If Bowling Green could cut baseball, I personally think it would. But the MAC requires members to field baseball teams. And I'm not sure it would save that much money. We aren't talking about very many scholarships there.
LongtimeFan Wrote:Do the Miami, Bowling Green and Western Michigan varsity hockey programs have a negative impact on attendance at those schools' basketball games? Do they compete for fans? I have never understood why those schools don't have better basketball attendance. Just wondering.
Have you seen our hockey team and have you seen our b-ball team??? The only thing fans are fighting for is to see who can get to the keg first at whichever frat house is rockn that night.
You hit the nail on the head, FF. Bowling Green's National Championship in 1984 created good will that lasted about 15 years, but they've just been pretty dreadful over the past few years, so the place hasn't been full of fans.

That Findlay thing kills me. I'm sure they are in some kind of financial crunch, but I've been following them and the way so many other schools went to bat for them so that they could be Division I, and now to just drop it after all that seems pretty sad.

Question: How many MAC teams have won National Championships in any NCAA sports at the Division I level?
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