Jacob Marrocco

 

KINGSTON, R.I. - The University of Rhode Island men's and women's ice hockey teams have posted NCAA Division I numbers and records throughout the past decade, but remain at the club sport level.  

 

"I think women's and men's ice hockey is different than any other sport because it's something you can't just pick up any time of your life," sophomore forward Bethany Saunders said.

 

The men's squad has posted at least 20 wins every season since 2004 and captured four consecutive championships in the Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association from 2004-2007. The team posted a record of 131-15-6 over that span as well. They also brought the university its first American Collegiate Hockey Association Division I National Championship in 2006.

 

The women's hockey team has had their share of successes, too. They have racked up nine of the last 12 Eastern Collegiate Women's Hockey League championships and attended numerous ACHA National Tournaments. The team also boasts the 2013 Zoe Harris Player of the Year last season, junior Cassie Catlow, and the ACHA leader in shutouts and minutes played, senior goaltender Kayla DiLorenzo.

 

The concept of moving the teams from the club arena to NCAA Division I status has been tossed around for years. Sophomore defenseman Brenna Callahan said that she and her teammates, as well as the men's team, work more than hard enough to move up.

 

"We practice every day except for one day," Callahan said. "We put just as much effort into the sport we have such passion for. Just as much as the [NCAA] Division I sports here. We put just as much effort and dedication into it."

 

The issue surrounding why the teams cannot make the leap from club sports to NCAA centers on money. It would cost approximately $3 million to run each program at the Division I level, an amount that would have to be replenished each season.

 

URI Athletic Director Thorr Bjorn offered insight into the matter. He said that the push for NCAA status would most likely have to come from outside the university, namely the state government.

 

"[Hockey]'s a great college sport, I love it," Bjorn said. "But if we're not funding our current programs well enough to be successful, where are we going to come up with the $3 million needed to run a hockey program. It's one of those things if the state ever came back or the university said 'Yeah, we want to do it,' I've got no problem with it."

 

Bjorn said that during his time at the University of Massachusetts hockey was brought back as a NCAA Division I sport in an effort the state house led through providing the funds and resources to allow the programs to run. 

 

He said the money cannot be obtained through a fundraising initiative because it is too much to raise each season and cannot be sustained. Even if there was enough procured to run the programs for a few seasons, he said, there would be no direction for the teams after that time. 

 

"It just doesn't make any sense to me," Bjorn said. "[The money]'s not going to come from 'Great, we just raised $300,000, let's go do it.' You have to have all the money, all the time, every year." 

 

Bjorn went further to say that if the government offered more sports funding in the near future, he would rather see it go to hiring new faculty or extending the contracts of those employed at the university already. 

 

"I think nobody within the university, including me, would say 'Yeah, we would love that $3 or $4 million to start a hockey program," Bjorn said. 

 

The men's hockey team is currently ranked no. 20 in the country with a 13-6-1 record and will play host to Towson University from Dec. 6-7. The women's squad is no. 2 in the country with a 12-3-1 posting and will not return to action until Jan. 5-7 when they travel to Robert Morris University for a three-game set.