2003 AWHCA Meeting Minutes

Naples Florida

Schools Present:  Amherst, Augsburg, Bates, Bemidji, Umass-Boston, Bowdoin, Brown, Colby, Colgate, Connecticut College, U Conn, Cornell, Cortland, Dartmouth, Eau Claire, Elmira, Findlay, Hamilton, Harvard, Lake Forest, Maine, Manhattanville, Mercyhurst, Middlebury, Duluth, Minnesota, Mankato, New England, New Hampshire, Niagara, North Dakota, Northeastern, Ohio, Princeton, Providence, Quinnipiac, RPI, Rhode Island, River Falls, St. Ben’s, St. Cloud, St. Lawrence, St. Mary’s, St. Michael’s, St. Olaf, Union, Utica, Vermont, Wayne State, Wisconsin-Madision, Steven’s Point, Yale.

(Please contact Jill Pohtilla at pohtilla@augsburg.edu if there are any errors or omissions in meeting minutes)

Wednesday, April 23^rd, 2003

President Jeff Kampersal (Princeton University) called the meeting to order at 2:10pm.  He introduced Ty Halpin (NCAA), Tony Mariano, (Rules committee chair), Paul Duffey (Rules secretary) and Bob Quinn, newly appointed coordinator of women’s officials (NCAA).

Rules

Ty talked about the following issues which are the main areas for the Rules Committee to address:

1. Dangerous play – There is a concern at the NCAA in the rising numbers of concussions in men’s and women’s ice hockey.
2. Hitting from behind
3. Chin straps – goalies must also have them fastened.
4. Contact with goaltenders – what is the intent when there is contact?  Rules committee is looking to eliminate any contact with goalies.
5. Line change procedure – Coaches shared the following concerns: The new rule (5 second change) doesn’t affect the speed of the women’s game since, among other things, the women don’t have the hitting after the whistle the men do, especially in front of the net.  Concerns were that the referees were in such a hurry to follow the 5-5-5 rule that neither coaches nor their captains had opportunities to ask for clarifications, especially during penalty situations, i.e., are teams 5 x 5  or  4 x 4.  Teams are rushed after goal is scored.  There were instances where a celebrating team was not allowed to change their line.  Home team does not gain an advantage, especially in second period.  Rules committee question as to how much time should be allowed for a team to celebrate a goal?  Coaches felt that celebrating needs to be allowed.  Other issue is not being able to take a timeout once the 5-5-5 process has begun.  A coach only gets one time out…so let the coach use it when they want, as long as it’s during a stoppage.  Frank said the committee will be looking at changing that.  Other concern is with the second period when teams have further to go to set up for end zone face-offs.  Basically, the Rules Committee will address the fact that officials seem to be rushing the process.  Players should not be in motion when the puck is dropped.  Coaches should be able to get their questions answered during a stoppage.  Maybe there is a way to begin the process…with a whistle?  Talk of going to a 5-8-5 so the home team gets their advantage.
6. Diving sweep check – Is it OK to trip if the player went for the puck?  Some felt if the player touched the puck first, a trip should not be called.  Others felt that a trip is a trip, regardless of initial intent.
7. Committee will clarify scrimmage vs exhibition.
8. Officiating system – 2:1 vs 1:2 vs 2:2?   Feed back from coaches went both ways, that some prefer the 2:1 to have two people making calls.  Others prefer 1:2 so that the lines are not missed. Basically, there is no perfect system.  The 2:1 and the 1:2 each have their strengths and weaknesses.  Important to consider making room for development of officials.  Asked if NCAA has money for development of officials.  No.  basically, coaches are asked to encourage their graduating players to get into officiating.

Budget

Should we keep dues structure as is?  Some schools can’t afford it.  In December, 2000, balance was $4,940.26.  Current balance is $12,456.01.  There will be bills to pay after convention totaling around $4,000. Dues are to be used for bettering the sport of women’s ice hockey.  We currently give $500 each fall to the MN Girls High School Coaches Association to help defray the cost of their coaching clinics.  Why do we need to keep the dues at $100?  We have money…how do we spend it.  Some suggestions were to separate from the AHCA and run our own convention.  That would be cost prohibitive.  Plus, a lot of hard work went in to allowing women’s coaches to be AHCA members.  It would be hypocritical at this point to go on our own.  We don’t have a foundation in place to be on our own.  Other suggestions included a “scholarship” for programs that can’t afford it.   The board will look at that.  Other suggestions for using our money to further the growth of women’s ice hockey:  Officials’ development, club nationals, reduce dues for new programs.  If anyone has ideas on how to use our money for the betterment of women’s hockey, please contact any AWHCA board member.

All-Academic Team

Using Academic All America is a copy-writed term for CoSida.  For this year, the term Scholar All America will be used.  Certificates will be sent out (two per athlete – one for athlete and one for school). There were 38 DIII and 36 DI recipients.  There was discussion on criteria in that there is no way to determine the player’s athletic ability with standardized criteria based on percentage of games dressed.  It is hoped coaches will submit names of athletes who are high caliber players.  There was discussion on changing the name of the award to better reflect it’s meaning.  Membership wants, “National Scholar Athlete” used for the following year.  Criteria will stay as it is.

Joe Burke Award

Jane Ring is this year’s recipient.  Membership asked to think of others who are deserving for next year’s award.  Submit names to Jeff Kampersal.  Previously submitted names are kept on the suggestion list.

Large group adjourned at 4:10pm.

DIII Issues

Coaches asked it any are interested in having an All America honorable mention team.  No.  Don’t want to water it down.  It is an AHCA sponsored award, and would need to go through the AHCA Awards Committee and the AHCA Board. 

Officiating systems were discussed.  Conversation mirrored the large group discussion (see above).

DIII NCAA Tournament Meeting

Kerri Fagen (NCAA) and Frank O’Brien (DIII Tourn. Committee chair) introduced themselves.  Kerri talked about NCAA Tournament selection criteria and that it is set for the next year.  It can be changed after that with committee recommendations.  Selection criteria is set by the NCAA, not the DIII committee.  The committee applies the criteria.  Kerri said the NCAA wants  hockey to use score reporting forms.  Coaches will be notified if this is the case.  Beginning 2005-2006, the ratio for number of teams in the championship will be 1:6.5.   Coaches were asked for feedback regarding site selection. Do we eliminate a team’s right to host if they hosted the previous year and are the number one seed again?  Do we want to rotate regions?  How frequently?  Does ice size matter?  Do we restrict hosting capabilities based on ice size and what are the limits?   Coaches recommended that the number one seed does not have to be the host, rotating is a good thing, and that it is important to be careful when putting restrictions on a facility (lighting, size, etc…)  If the rink is good enough to play regular season NCAA games, why should it be eliminated from hosting?

DI Issues

April 23, 2003

Jeff Kampersal started talking about “broken rules” vs. “unwritten rules.”  He mentioned he received many emails about coaches’ actions and how we are representing ourselves.  Examples included poor conduct toward officials, running up scores, and bad recruiting practices, and not calling each other back in times of scheduling.

The direction of increased physicality and body-checking were a concern to many members of the coaching body.  Jeff mentioned a fact that average penalty minutes a game increased from 8.94 in 2001-02 to 10.67 in 2002-03.

The group talked about the NCAA Championship at Duluth.  The consensus was that the Tournament was a great success; it was organized and marketed very well.  The group talked about Tournament expansion, the fact that the NCAA Tournament conflicted with the World Championships, and future starting dates of the season. 

The group spent considerable time talking about the RPI ratings index and how a higher ranked team can actually lose points by beating a lower ranked team.

Mel Davidson mentioned the dates that Canada Hockey would meet during the upcoming summer and season:

May 8-11        50 athletes competing

June 1-8        75 athletes competing at three different sites

Aug 9-23        Under-22 and Series against USA

Dec. 15-21 or Feb. 2-8        Under-22

Oct. 7-12        Canada Festival

Nov. 2-10        Four Nations Tournament in Sweden

March 20-27     Pre-World Championship Camp

March 30-April 4        World Championships in Kitchener, Ontario

Mel Davidson also mentioned that instead of a system of debating over the system of officiating, we should be focusing on the development of officials. 

DI NCAA Tournament Meeting

Carolyn Campbell-McGovern and Troy Arthur met with the coaching body to about the 2003 NCAA Tournament, future Championships, and Bracket Expansion.  Ms. Campbell-McGovern gave an overview about the current committee members and when their terms expire, team selections, and site selection.  In terms of bracket expansion, 8 teams in 2004-05 depending on NCAA funding and where they allocate the money is the best-case scenario.  Automatic Qualifiers is a topic to be determined. 

Future Championship Dates:

2004    March 26 & 28

2005    March 25 & 27

2006    March 24 & 26

Ms. Campbell-McGovern went over the Selection Criteria in detail.  Bob Deraney mentioned the concern that the body had with the RPI index rating.

Bob Quinn, NCAA Coordinator of Officials mentioned that the NCAA would work with all the conferences and try and develop officials. 

Troy Arthur mentioned that the NCAA Chain of Command to get things approved is:

Championship Committee à  Management Council (administrators) à  Board of Directors

Minutes respectfully submitted

by Jill Pohtilla (Augsburg College)

AWHCA Secretary/Tresurer