RPI Women's Hockey

[Ralph Baer]

USCHO has the schedule as http://www.uscho.com/schedules/team.php?season=20032004&team=95&gender=w .

I don't know if it is complete.

[Frozenaffairs]

Originally posted by RPI_fan03
Ok, I have good news for you all...the list of the names for the 2003-2004 class were sent to me this morning. Here you are:

Katie Hammond D
Julie Aho F
Sarah Daniel F
Holly ODonohue D/F
Katie Temple D/f
Christina Johnston G




Unless I'm mistaken, Katie Temple played last year for UW as a frosh and was voted most inspirational. I know she elected not to return this fall.........lack of playing time. She was a recruited walk on for UW.

[leeb]

Anyone know anything about Sarah Daniel or Holly O'Donohue? Does anyone in the know dare to venture who will have the most impact in this recruiting class?

[Dader]

Ralph/RPI_Fan'03
Do either/both of you have any information about where these new RPI players are coming from?
Additionally, everything that I've researched about RPI leads me to believe that it's, obviously, a first-class school w/ an excellent coach. The one thing that causes me to "take pause" is the relative weakness of the conference that it currently plays in ( I realize that RPI has no control over that & if the "discussions" on this website are accurate that it will be going D1 in the near future, my concern is, somewhat, moot ... but ... after the Engineers & Manhattanville, the level of competition ( w/ all-due-respect to the hard-working players & coaches at the other conference schools) really "nosedives" {other than a Holy Cross, perhaps a RIT}). I'm guessing that you'd agree that 'double-digit' victories are counterproductive, not only, obviously, to the losing team in those games but also to the more-talented team as a "blow-out" doesn't get them ready for the stiff competition in post-season play ... players on the winning team can "pad" their stats & perhaps, if the coach is "fair-minded", third & fourth line players can see more ice than usual but in the long-run, that type of game should "grow old" for both victor & vanquished.
Any thoughts on what 'fan support' is like for the RPI women's team ...

[Ralph Baer]

Dader, I am far removed from Troy, and this thread is the first that I have heard about any of the women's recruits. RPI_Fan03 clearly knows much more.

Attendance at RPI women's games is usually reported at 50 or 100, and it seems like half of those are people like RPIRED who post here plus family members. I agree about the level of competition in the ECAC-III East, but there really isn't much choice for RPI unless it goes D-I. As to going to D-I, I don't know why RPI is dragging its feet.

[leeb]

While RPI does play in a relatively weak conference (Manhattanville and RIT aside of course), I think they do a great job of compensating by scheduling established and up-and-coming D1 teams. They regularly have D1 teams like Colgate, Vermont, Yale, etc. on the schedule. Now obviously these aren't elite D1 teams but they allow RPI's players to see what top competition (relative to D3) is all about.

In terms of attendance, it all depends on if the games are publicized or not. For example, the attendance for last year's first home game was around 200 or maybe 250 (can't remember exactly). They were playing St. Michael's, a very poor D3 team. The large attendance was highly attributed to a promotion in the Polytechnic the week before the game. I don't remember seeing any other promotions in the Poly after that and attendance slowly dipped and then leveled out. So I think the team could be marketed better because there is definitely enough interest in the community and on campus to attract 200-300 every game.

[rpi_fan03]

Dader- leeb beat me to it but I was also going to point out that although the league Rpi plays in may be weaker than others, they do invite a higher level of competition by scheduling games outside their conference as well as outside their division. The school, the program, and the coach are all first class as you said....but few people realize just how much like a D1 team the Engineers are run. Because of the long running men's program and Coach Cahill's experience with that team and others, he is able to provide an environment for the team that I would dare to venture cannot be found anywhere else in D3. Most teams don't have a truly set time they need to be at the rink for on a game day....just be there and dressed in time for warmups. RPI however is at the rink at 9am the day of most games (11:30 if it's a 7pm start) and they have either a pre-game workout or a pre-game skate (depending on the availability of the ice). Then they are allowed to go off on their own but must return at LEAST two and a half hours before gametime. If you are not in the locker room or the players lounge, you are locked out and will not dress for that game (and most likely will be penalized for a second game). There is a set curfew the night before each game which is enforced by the coach and the captains. Each player has three individual meetings scheduled with the coaching staff each season (beginning, middle, end) to discuss goals, strengths and weaknesses, and game strategy among other things. On away trips, there is a set schedule each day for when you eat, sleep, travel, etc. There are team meals every game day on away trips...unlike a lot of schools, the team is not given individual meal money that they could easily go spend on Burger King or Wendy's...Coach Cahill will schedule a pasta or chicken parm dinner at a nice restaurant (usually small family owned business instead of the more expensive chains like Olive Garden). I could go on....but I won't. As you can tell, I am truly a fan of the entire program and what it means to be a hockey player at RPI. So, as for fan support....meet any one of the girls or the coaches, even just once, and you will most likely be a fan too. The competition level makes little difference if you are a fan of RPI because you tend to get caught up in the fact that those girls can really play hockey....and play it well. I admit, it gets boring sometimes to see opponents whose skill levels are drastically lower....but the girls make up for it in the games where the skill levels are comparable.
:D

[rpi_fan03]

Frozenaffairs-
That is the same Katie Temple who was on the UW team, but as I stated, she did not dress for any of the games this past season. Basically, she practiced everyday and never got to play. I have met her and can only imagine that she came to every practice and every game with a smile on her face and either worked as hard as she could or cheered as hard as she could. I am not surprised at all that she was voted most inspirational knowing her personality.

leeb- I think that Temple will have the biggest impact this year. This is not necessarily with regards to statistics, but rather to character. As the team is a tigh knit group already, her work ethic and enthusiasm will only add to the overall team strength. Afterall, you can have a great group of players and still have a lousy team...if players don't have chemistry, then their potential is severly affected. So, like Sondra Sherman last season I think Temple will bring a great attitude along with experience that will help the team. As for biggest impact stats wise...it's anyone's guess!

Ralph- RPI is dragging it's feet on D1 mostly due to money issues. The athletic department is run pretty much on the proceeds from the student bodies "activity fees" and the rest comes mainly from men's hockey revenue. It is currently financially impossible for RPI to field another D1 team in any sport...and hockey is probably the most expensive to boot. So the task they are working on is trying to figure out a way to increase the revenue from both outside sources as well as possibly restructure the cash flow process as it currently stands. You'd think they would be quick on this one being a school based largley in mathematics!:p

[Dader]

Thanks RPI_fan03, leeb & Ralph!
As the "Dader" of a prospective collegiate player, I try to get info about schools for my daughter where I can. I really appreciate the info that the three of you provided w/ your responses ... ...
In addition to the 'regimen' which he's implemented @ RPI & his impressive overall coaching record, the fact that my daughter found him to be a real "hoot" to talk to on the phone recently has increased our interest in getting to know him, the school & its hockey program better ... I believe that it's becoming more probable that we'll accept an invitation to visit there this fall.
Thanks again for the 'input' ... RPI_fan03; perhaps after this season, I'll have a vested interest in sharing some of the enthusiasm which you, obviously, have for the team!?!?
Dader

[Collegegirl]

I know katie temple...and she is an awesome girl. thats always a bad situation, practicing everyday and never getting to dress, especially for a girl like her. i wish her the best of luck at RPI and a congrats to the team for grabbing a great person as well as a player. :D

[Ralph Baer]

Originally posted by RPI_fan03
Ralph- RPI is dragging it's feet on D1 mostly due to money issues. The athletic department is run pretty much on the proceeds from the student bodies "activity fees" and the rest comes mainly from men's hockey revenue. It is currently financially impossible for RPI to field another D1 team in any sport...and hockey is probably the most expensive to boot. So the task they are working on is trying to figure out a way to increase the revenue from both outside sources as well as possibly restructure the cash flow process as it currently stands. You'd think they would be quick on this one being a school based largley in mathematics!:p That makes sense, except that I wonder about the Title IX issues since RPI is offering athletic scholarships to males but not to females. Considering that attendance at the men's hockey games has been going down over the last decade or so, any increase in revenue will have to come from "outside sources".

[leeb]

I should really clarify that "The Polytechnic" I mentioned earlier is the school's weekly newspaper. Even though I'm graduated, I'm from Troy and still live here so I always try and get to campus and snag me a Poly every week.

All this talk of elevating to D1 makes me think of Union and Sacred Heart and whether they've attracted legitimate D1 caliber players for this coming season or whether it'll be the same old same old. It'll be interesting to see how quickly those two teams, and Clarkson also, transition.

[Ralph Baer]

It's hard to believe that a thread about the RPI women's team has gotten over 30 replies.

leeb, I think that in about two years UC and SHU will have teams markedly better than the D-III level, but they'll remain near the bottom of the D-I league. Clarkson is a bigger question as they could become a title contender in four or five years.

[HockeyMom72]

Union has said they will not be offering athletic scholarships. My neighbor's daughter plays another sport there and we were told their financial aid package isn't that great. However, academically they have a good reputation, so I'm sure that alone will attract players. Nice campus and OK rink too.

I don't know how much Sacred Heart will be offering for athletic scholarships, but my daughter wasn't offered much financial aid there. They also don't have the solid academic reputation of an RPI, or even of a Union. One of my daughter friends turned down a full scholarship at another college just to go to RPI for it's academic excellence. RPI will do just fine. We were told 2 years ago that SHU was going to build a rink on campus. I think they said near the baseball field. Looked pretty small to me. Don't know if that's even been started at this point. New Mildford Rink is small, old, and is used by many local youth hockey teams. No comparison with Q's offsite Northford Rink.

Supposedlly, Holy Cross (another very good college) will be playing in D1 too in a year or so. Does anyone have any opinions on what will happen to the remaining schools in ECAC East D3? There doesn't seem to be any more coming in. Will they simply have to combine ECAC East and ECAC West into just one soon? Elimira and Manhattanville in the same league? :D

[Da Big Bad Cow]

i dont think holy cross has any plans to go D1 anytime soon.

[rpi_fan03]

Sounds to me like Union is going to be hurting for a few years for a team that will compete. If they are not offering scholarships and just trying to pull in players through academic reputation alone I just don't see how it will work...it is exactly the same as they do now for D3 except they are labeled D1. So why should it be any easier for them to recruit better players when they currently don't seem to have a huge amount of success. As mentioned earlier in the post, the ECAC-III east is sometimes considered a weak conference because after teams like RPI and Manhattanville the skill level drops off. Union is definitely not one of the bottom teams in that league, but they are also not a top team. IMO they are one of those middle teams that every so often will give the top teams a run for their money in a game, but can't seem to do it consistently. So any opinions on Union or other D3 schools making the choice to go D1?

Personally, I think that RPI's decision to wait on it and make sure that when they do finally make the move they have the support (financially and otherwise) to field a team that will compete is one of the smarter things they have done. Just look at what happened to UVM (not winning a single D1 game its first year) and what might happen to Union...anyone else see disaster on the horizon?

[Red Cloud]

Union's whole D-I future could be in a heap of trouble if Belmonte doesn't change the attitude regarding the men's team now that Sneddon, the only real rock in Schenectady, is gone... by association this affects the women's team, and it's not good timing for anyone involved. As far as the women's chances for the upcoming year, they might get some D-III victories but victories against D-I teams are highly unlikely. The cream of the crop in women's hockey go to a select few schools and with Union offering nothing more than a D-III school does (and doesn't even offer the D-I facility that RPI does), I don't see how they're going to attract D-I level players.

Meanwhile, the RPI situation will hopefully change soon (or at least I should hope so, since I'm supposed to be one of those catalysts of such a change). The method by which the athletic department is funded wears down on the whole program, not just women's hockey and whether it can move to D-I. Dr. Jackson both wants and needs the move to happen, the change in the financing structure will hopefully allow this to happen.

[leeb]

RPIRED,

I'm not even going to pretend that I know anything about the way the Athletic Department or anything else at RPI is run, but here is my 2 cents...

In terms of incoming revenue, every time I visit the Field House (which I'm inclined to do here and there during the summer), there's always something going on there. It seems there are always tournaments being played, practices being held, clinics being given, etc. for all kinds of levels of hockey. I just find it hard to believe that there isn't enough money flowing through the Field House (outside of concessions sales during the season) to support the teams (whether in whole or at least mostly). It just seems like the teams should be self-sufficient for the most part. Or at least the men's team anyway.

Of course, that wouldn't be the case if any and all money made through Field House operations went into the general athletic department coffer. Which now that I think about it, is probably the case. Perhaps someone can help clear up that issue.

[rpi_fan03]

Basically, the money made from the men's team and the overall student body's activity fees are what support the entire athletic department. All former students should be well aware that the Union is run solely by students, and the A-board and E-Board are the two big parts of the Union which control money to the Athletic Dept. Athletes are well represented on the committee, but there is only so much money to go around, and the money from activity fees also goes to support basic functions of the 500+ clubs and intramural sports also. There is an Institute policy which guarantees the school "matches" a certain amount of money for the athletic dept (not sure of the exacts on this one...RPIRED?) but it still is not even close to the amount needed. Most, if not all, other schools who compete in D1 have a financial stability that RPI does not have...the amount of money depends on how well the men pull in fans, as well as how many students attend RPIAnyone who has visited facilities should be able to see that there are other priorities within the dept which need to come first. As a former member of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee I have been informed on these issues more than most students, so it is easier to not gripe about the lack of a women's D1 team knowing all the things that are wrong with the dept. Almost all teams, men and women, don't even have locker room space for one thing. The turf needs to be replaced, as does the draining system underneath it. The training room is about the size of two rooms in Cary put together...possibly even smaller. In order to accomodate two D1 sports, as well as keep all the other sports and allow them to be competitive, this all needs to be handled before the move is made.


Does that help clear up the financial problems?? Ask away if you have any more questions:D

[rpi_fan03]

Just another example of the messed up way that the system currently works...
both hockey teams have to PAY for their ice times. Basically, the Union gives them money to operate, and part of that money goes back into the Institute as whole so that the teams cna have their practices and games.
Anyone else find this ridiculous????:p