The women's hockey team,
currently playing a twenty-one game independent schedule
in its fourth year as a club sport, will move to varsity
status starting with the 1999-2000 season.
The team will become the
fourteenth member of the Eastern College Athletic
Conference's Alliance League next season and become the
College's twenty-fifth intercollegiate varsity sport (and
thirteenth for women) the year after.
Director of Athletics Dick
Sakala says the move is coming “because of the
interest shown by our female students. As is the case
with any club sport that we've elevated to varsity
status, women's hockey has to complete a four-to-five
year cycle that shows continued interest and
growth.”
Last year, Union elevated
its men and women's crew after many years of student
interest at the club level; women's soccer attained
varsity status in 1984 after forming as a club sport in
1980.
Hana Yamashita '97 started
the women's ice hockey club in 1994. Two previous
attempts at developing a club hockey program for women
had been attempted, but the teams were unable to maintain
the numbers and ability shown by the current team.
The club began playing
varsity teams two years ago and has been making great
progress. Player interest and ability continue to grow;
there are twenty-five women on the team this year, more
than any other year, and last year's record was 8-2-0
against club teams, 9-8-3 overall.
Jeff St. Vrain, one of the
three volunteer coaches, says success can be attributed
to the motivation to move up. “It's so easy to coach
these players because they are so eager to learn,”
he says. “The coaches don't need to be huge
motivational factors, so we can concentrate on teaching
them how to play.”
Tim Benson and Todd Davis,
the other two coaches, agree. “These women are so
ready to make the move, you can see it,” Benson
says. “They want to play at that level and they will
never give up.”
Bringing the women into
the ECAC Alliance League will smooth the transition to
varsity status. The league has eleven teams and will add
two more next year in addition to Union. There will be
eighteen league games with the possibility of seven
non-league games for a total of twenty-five. Union will
be paired with Hamilton as a travel partner, and the
schedule will be similar to that of the men's program,
where a majority of the games are played on Friday and
Saturday nights.
The Alliance is an
appropriate home for Union because it includes colleges
with similar academic and athletic stature. “It
really looks like a good place for us to be,”
commented Sakala.
St. Vrain says that the
situation at Union reflects the changes that have been
occurring in women's hockey nationally during the past
five years. “It is thriving and I think it will
continue like this in the future.”
Hockey will join
basketball, crew, cross country, field hockey, lacrosse,
soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track (indoor and
outdoor), and volleyball as intercollegiate varsity
sports. The men's program includes baseball, basketball,
crew, cross country, football, hockey, lacrosse, soccer,
swimming, tennis, and track (indoor and outdoor). The
teams compete at the NCAA Division III level, except for
Division I men's hockey.