RPI Women's Hockey

[nut_case]

I am not exactly clear on the RPI situation as far as the league tournament and NCAA tournament are concerned, and I am not sure why St. Anselm is in a transition status with the league this year (did NEC and UMASS go through the same process a few years ago?). I will note, however, that St. Anselm is not playing a full league schedule this season. Therefore it would seem to me that even without the D2 issues St. Anselm would not be a candidate for the league playoffs.

[nut_case]

I just realized that I misread the prior post, which refers to St. Anselm's schedule next year(and not this year). Sorry.

[mr_itty]

I still disagree with it, while yes RPI has played in the ECAC East this season, I still do not think that they should be allowed to play in tournament. They declared themselves D-1 last year and started to give out athletic scholarships which should make them uneligible to play in tournament. Both NCAA and ECAC.

They didn't declare themselves D1 last year, they declared the intention to move to D1 starting 2005-2006. And to my knowledge, no current women's team members are receiving athletic scholarships during this (04-05) school year. I suppose I could be wrong on that, and if I am, then I would have to agree with you.

[Ralph Baer]

If asked this before, but not in a while. Has anyone heard about any recruits for next year?

[hab]

They didn't declare themselves D1 last year, they declared the intention to move to D1 starting 2005-2006. And to my knowledge, no current women's team members are receiving athletic scholarships during this (04-05) school year. I suppose I could be wrong on that, and if I am, then I would have to agree with you.
Correct. No player on the current RPI team is on an athletic scholarship or will be on athletic scholarships in future years. It is entirely a D3 team, recruited and operating under D3 rules. And in answer to your question Ralph, I have not heard of any commitments for next year, but I do know that the coaching staff has been very active on the recruiting front, has a very active prospect list and so I am reasonably optimistic, although it is getting nerve-racking to have no announcements. I am quite impressed with how this year's team has developed, but they still need a half dozen additional solid D1 calibre players to be competitive with the teams in the bottom half of the D1 ranks, which I hope is the objective.

[uvmcats]

I am not exactly clear on the RPI situation as far as the league tournament and NCAA tournament are concerned, and I am not sure why St. Anselm is in a transition status with the league this year (did NEC and UMASS go through the same process a few years ago?). I will note, however, that St. Anselm is not playing a full league schedule this season. Therefore it would seem to me that even without the D2 issues St. Anselm would not be a candidate for the league playoffs.

NEC played a reduced schedule its first year. UMB played as a club team with exhibitions against all the conference teams. I suspect because Union was leaving they were made a full member in their first varsity year as a replacement.

[LoneStar]

Hab.....Ellen McNamara was promised athletic scholarship dollars for next year. She had planned to attend Findlay and hold them to their offer that she accepted prior to the announcement of the end of their program. She decided to attend RPI ONLY after she realized that the financial burden of attending RPI would not impact her parents lives. That, in itself, should bar RPI from playing past the end of the regular season.

[Red Cloud]

Hab.....Ellen McNamara was promised athletic scholarship dollars for next year. She had planned to attend Findlay and hold them to their offer that she accepted prior to the announcement of the end of their program. She decided to attend RPI ONLY after she realized that the financial burden of attending RPI would not impact her parents lives. That, in itself, should bar RPI from playing past the end of the regular season.
That's... pretty thin.

[stetem]

That's... pretty thin.

THIN !!!
is it true
i'm sure magichound would know

[nut_case]

If this is true, why is it "pretty thin" in the context of this particular discussion( part of which seems to involve the view that RPI is still operating as a D3 team this year)? Presumably all of this year's first year players are considered to have the talent to play at the D1 level, so the question of whether the program is operating within the D3 rules this year would presumably turn primarily on issues such as scholarships (leaving aside the sometimes murky world of "Financial aid").

[Red Cloud]

If this is true, why is it "pretty thin" in the context of this particular discussion( part of which seems to involve the view that RPI is still operating as a D3 team this year)? Presumably all of this year's first year players are considered to have the talent to play at the D1 level, so the question of whether the program is operating within the D3 rules this year would presumably turn primarily on issues such as scholarships (leaving aside the sometimes murky world of "Financial aid").The fact is, this year's recruiting class was largely in BEFORE the announcement was made - but that didn't stop D1 caliber players from coming here. You think Julie Aho would have come to Troy if there weren't mass rumors of a move to Division I? Look at it - the men's team is Division I, it goes to reason that they'd move the women's team up eventually. That's part of the reason the team's been so successful at D-III.

[stetem]

If this is true, why is it "pretty thin" in the context of this particular discussion( part of which seems to involve the view that RPI is still operating as a D3 team this year)? Presumably all of this year's first year players are considered to have the talent to play at the D1 level, so the question of whether the program is operating within the D3 rules this year would presumably turn primarily on issues such as scholarships (leaving aside the sometimes murky world of "Financial aid").

My guess would be
they recruited with the promise of an athletic scholarship
i'm sure a DIII team can not do that

[stetem]

The fact is, this year's recruiting class was largely in BEFORE the announcement was made - but that didn't stop D1 caliber players from coming here. You think Julie Aho would have come to Troy if there weren't mass rumors of a move to Division I? Look at it - the men's team is Division I, it goes to reason that they'd move the women's team up eventually. That's part of the reason the team's been so successful at D-III.

I would think the fact is RPI recruited with the promise of an athletic scholarship
as for Julie Aho ...she was a goalie most of her playing days
not until a few years before college did she switch to forward

[Ralph Baer]

I certainly don't know what aid any of this year's Freshmen are getting. It would not be surprising if some were told that it is likely that they would get a scholarship next season. I suspect that this year, they are only getting the type of aid that is legal for D-3 athletes. However, let's face it, there is a very murky line between different kinds of aid.

[stetem]

I certainly don't know what aid any of this year's Freshmen are getting. It would not be surprising if some were told that it is likely that they would get a scholarship next season. I suspect that this year, they are only getting the type of aid that is legal for D-3 athletes. However, let's face it, there is a very murky line between different kinds of aid.

I think the question is
can a DIII team recruit with the promise of a DI athletic scholarship in the next season
my understanding is... only DI teams are allowed to offer that kind of financial support to a player
i'm sure a prospect would ask... if not offered.. for an athletic scholarship
that would deffinately advantage the team who can offer that kind of support

[Ralph Baer]

I think the question is
can a DIII team recruit with the promise of a DI athletic scholarship in the next season
my understanding is... only DI teams are allowed to offer that kind of financial support to a player
i'm sure a prospect would ask... if not offered.. for an athletic scholarship
that would deffinately advantage the team who can offer that kind of support
I suspect that promises are not allowed. That is the reason that I didn't say that.

[Red Cloud]

I would think the fact is RPI recruited with the promise of an athletic scholarship
Show me that this is a fact and I'll believe it. Just saying it doesn't make it so. If anyone on this team were currently on scholarship or had all been promised scholarships soon, they'd be wiping the floor with all of D-III.

What you are suggesting happened is a recruiting violation. I assure you none have occurred. What more likely happened is that it was mentioned that the team would possibly be moving to Division I in the future, and if such a thing happened, scholarships would be available to some players. Then it's up to the player to decide whether or not to take that chance.

It's also possible that she was offered an academic scholarship.

[hab]

This whole discussion seems to assume that athletic scholarships are the only form of financial aid and that financial aid is the only thing that drives a player to select one institution over another. RPI (like other good D3 programs) has a number of players who could quite comfortably fit in on many D1 teams. In some cases (Sarah Daniel, for one) they turned down scholarships at D1 schools to play for RPI before it was at all certain that RPI was going D1. In some cases they may be on partial academic scholarships and in other cases they get need based aid. And in most cases, the quality of the education was a strong motivating factor. This is not unlike the situation at the Ivy Schools, which do not offer athletic scholarships but are still able to put together highly competitive teams, based on their financial resources to give other forms of aid, and on the appeal of their academic reputations. I would suggest that a number of the top players on teams like RPI, Middlebury, Bowdoin, Williams etc. could play D1 but are where they are at least in part due to academic preferences, and I would suggest that a number of the top players at schools like Manhattanville, Elmira, and Plattsburgh could play D1 but are where they are because the total financial package (even without athletic scholarships) was better than what they were offered by D1 schools. Don't get me wrong: for RPI, athletic scholarships are essential if they want to attract enough strong players to be competitive in D1, but they are not the only way to attract good players. (By the way, I acknowledge that there is no doubt that many of the players that have come to RPI in the last 2 years were also influenced by the possibility that the team would go D1, but I remain skeptical that any have been given athletic scholarships). Hopefully my last words on this subject, as the Gods (NCAA) have spoken and RPI is ineligible.

[OhiohockeyDad]

What I think was bad timing by RPI on the announcement, probably killed them on this, but while I could really care less if they did anything wrong recruiting or not, it is an interesting conversation. Some of the statements by RPIRED really struck me...

What you are suggesting happened is a recruiting violation. I assure you none have occurred.

How can you know that, unless you are the recruiting coach?? Which you could be , I guess....

I know I watched the coach talking to players that are now scholly athletes at D1 schools BEFORE the announcement, doesn't mean much on the surface, but I have to believe that most D3 schools kind of know which girls they are getting and which they are wasting time with...

We all like to believe that 'our' school is above that (a prime example is my favorite college football team), but at some point, you have to admit, OK, some of this is probably true.

The fact is, this year's recruiting class was largely in BEFORE the announcement was made -

D1 announcement was made on Jan 12- 13 days after RPI's Early Decision notification (12/31). 5 freshmen this year, yet there was no info on any of them until 4/26?? So 3 or 4 of these inbound freshmen went early decision, were accepted, and sent their enrollment back before 01/12, and no one on this board (which has a rabid RPI fan base as I can tell), knew who they were?
Suggests to me that the coach told them he would get them in, yadaa,yadaa...

I'm not suggesting it happened- but it could, which is probably the NCAA's reasoning (boy , is that an oxymoron)...

[Red Cloud]

How can you know that, unless you are the recruiting coach?? Which you could be , I guess....I am not the recruiting coach. I am not currently affiliated with the program in any way. However, my knowledge on this IS more than wishful thinking.

We all like to believe that 'our' school is above that (a prime example is my favorite college football team), but at some point, you have to admit, OK, some of this is probably true. This is hilarious. You want to crucify a program based on someone's blind accusation. You go ahead, sir. I know different - and better.