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Post #108 – 7/10/23 – Managing Communication Expectations

Focus On The Things You Can Control

The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline

Stay informed. Get educated. Become ‘HOCKEY-WISE’!

Your leading online resource for NCAA Women’s College Hockey


Latest From… The Women’s College Hockey Podcast – Episode #3B…

  • Episode #3A Part I – Is Now LIVE|The Recap


Knowing The Rules Of Engagement

You’ve sent multiple emails to the coaching staff of your #1 choice D-I dream school. You can’t wait to hear back from them. You check your email daily. Two months go by, now three. No reply yet. And now you begin to wonder… are my emails even getting through? Why haven’t they gotten back to me??? This is torture!

Communication with coaches can be a bit tricky. Coaches have to not only manage NCAA rules, but time in their schedule to respond or not at all.

You literally you can drive yourself a little crazy trying to read into why you haven’t gotten a response yet.

So, before you bite off all your fingernails or pull your hair out in frustration, here are some tips to managing expectations when trying to communicate with coaches.

Know The Landscape, Communicate Appropriately, Control What You Can.

First, Know The Landscape…

There Are NCAA Rules… Under NCAA rules, D-I coaches are not allowed to engage in regular communication (phone, text, email, social media DM’s, etc.) with recruits or family members until June 15 after the recruits’ grade 10 year (or when finishing grade 10 if after June 15). In-person contacts may not occur until August 1 after the prospects grade 10 year. However, D-I coaches are allowed a one-time response to a recruits’ inquiry where they can advise the recruit/family of NCAA communication rules. Also, D-I coaches may provide their recruiting questionnaire or camp or clinic information at any time.

D-III coaches have no restrictions on electronic communication (phone, text, email, social media DM’s, etc.) with recruits or family members. Face-to-face in-person contacts may not occur until after the prospects grade 10 year is complete.

Coaches are extremely busy… As coaches, we’re extremely busy. For people who think being a college coach means planning practice and just showing up for games, you’d be dead wrong. We manage the entire day-to-day operation of our program. It’s a 24/7, 365 type of commitment. The job doesn’t go away when we leave the office for the day. Programs have limited full-time staffs too. Most D-III programs have 1, may be 2 full-times coaches if they’re lucky. Most if not all D-I programs have between 2-3 (some now 4) full time coaches on staff. Coaches also have lives outside of hockey… relationships to enjoy, friends to see, other interests to take part in. We’re just like everyone else.

Reaching out to coaches is easy… Everyone who runs a showcase or camp and has a recruiting seminar/talk as part of the program – says to reach out and contact coaches. It’s easy. Craft your message and press send. We live in a world of instant gratification. The issue for coaches becomes the sheer volume of inquiries they get from prospective recruits. Additionally, coaches try to balance if that email, DM, or text – is worth responding to right then and there, waiting a bit, or not replying at all.

Second, Communicate Appropriately

An intro email and 1-2 in-season updates before the holidays and after your season has ended, should do the trick. Anything more than that is overkill. Just my opinion though… unless there is a real compelling reason like you changed teams or schools. Don’t be that player (or parent!) who sends an email update after every weekend. It’s not necessary, and quite frankly too much contact is bad form. Intro’s should include a little bit about why you have an interest in the institution, a bit about who you are, the grade you are in, name of your high school and name of the team(s) you play for, your position, your season schedule if you have one. Any academic info like your transcript. Plus–you, your coaches, and parents contact info is imperative. Your In-Season Updates… should be just that. Include how your hockey season and school year are going, any personal triumphs or interesting tidbits about your hockey development, but keep them short and sweet. If sending one at the end of the year, you can include your summer hockey plans so coaches will know where they can see you play.

Control what you can…

You can’t control if a coach responds back to you. But you can control your communication to coaches and most of all – your effort in becoming the best player and student you can be. Which, at the end of the day, is the primary factor in why a coach will reach back out to you – because of how good she or he thinks you are and how you can help their program!

You can control your content – what exactly your messages say – and the frequency of how often your messages are sent. So as hard as it may be, try not to worry if you don’t get a reply. Know that your emails have been received and read–all of them are. Your communication to schools should be looked as a supplement to your hockey development. You might write a great email, but if you can’t play the game, you’ll be tough for coaches to want

And if you do get a reply, be glad you did!

The Bottom Line… There are so many players who want to play college hockey and technology makes it easy for them to reach coaches. Some programs make an effort to reply to everyone who reaches out, others are a bit more selective, and some even take the, ‘Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You’ approach.

At the end of the day, focus on the controllable’s and the communication will become two-sided at some point!

Until Next Time Everyone… Be Well and take Care,

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is wch-pic-logo-header-circle-3-12-21.jpg

-Streams for games in the ECAC can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams in the WCHA can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams in Hockey East this year can be found HERE. Hockey East once again is streaming all game live and for FREE.

-Streams for CHA games with the exception of Penn St. can be found HERE. Paid subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams for NEWHA games can be found at each teams’ website. Subscriptions may be necessary to watch games.


NCAA Coaching Changes… Keep up with all the coaching changes across D-I and D-III HERE.

Recruiting Events/League Online Directory… Find all the recruiting events on WCH.org right HERE. Want to add your event? Click HERE to fill out our WCH.org event form.


Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 4th season as an Assistant Coach with the Yale University women’s hockey program. Grant has developed an experienced perspective in the world of women’s ice hockey, having coached and recruited players from across the globe during his 25+ year amateur and NCAA coaching career. He has coached at 6 NCAA DIII and DI programs in the NCHA (D3), the CHA, WCHA, Hockey East, ECAC, and the Ivy League (DI). Beyond coaching, Grant served as a site representative for the 2019 NCAA quarterfinal of the D-I NCAA Tournament. He also currently serves as an Officer with the American Hockey Coaches Association as Vice President of Membership and sits on the AHCA’s Women’s Hockey Executive Committee.

Post #106 – 7/7/23 – Friday’s Sifters + A Little Extra:

Little lobs of news and info from around the world of women’s college hockey and beyond

The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline

Stay informed. Get educated. Become ‘HOCKEY-WISE’!

Your leading online resource for NCAA Women’s College Hockey


Latest From… The Women’s College Hockey Podcast – Episode #3B…

  • Episode #3A Part I – Is Now LIVE|The Recap


Friday’s Sifters

D-III Positions Open Up, NGHL News, Hockey East Facility Get’s An Upgrade and More, Teams Get It Done In The Classroom, + A Little Extra

Two D-III Head Coaching positions opened up this week. The National Girls Hockey League welcomes new teams, a Hockey East program get’s a rink upgrade.

Plus, several NHL Development Camps took place this week with NCAA female D-I coaches taking part.

July is shaping up to be one busy month on the recruiting trail for NCAA coaches.

Let’s get to it.

Coaching/Staff News At RMU, UCONN, Univ. of New England, SUNY-Cortland, SUNY-Potsdam

Robert Morris University… Head Coach Logan Bittle has announced the hiring of Operation Coordinator Patrick Barry to round out his coaching and support staff. Barry previously worked in operations and video with Penn St. You can read more on his hiring HERE.

UCONN… Has hired a new Director of Women’s Hockey Operations and Equipment Matt LaMalfa.

University of New England… Long time University of New England Head Coach David Vendetti has resigned according to a press release put out by the school. A national search for his replacement will be conducted.

SUNY-Cortland… Has posted for its part-time Assistant Coach position.

SUNY-Potsdam… Has announced a national search for a new Head Coach.

FEIA Joins National Girls Hockey League

The NGHL has a new hockey program joining for this coming 23-24 season – Fort Erie International Academy. Located in Fort Erie, Ontario just south of Niagara Falls, the FEIA girls hockey program enters its full 2nd season. Designed as a traditional boarding school, FEIA aims to attract International students in grade 6-12.

The NGHL provides opportunities for girls from the U10 to U19 age group and in the Tier I and Tier II competitive categories. The NGHL has teams literally from coast to coast.

For more information on the NGHL or the FEIA just click the links ➡️ NGHL ➡️ FEIA

Merrimack Get’s New Rink Upgrades

A multi-million dollar gift from Richard H’15 and Susanna Gallant will pave the way for transformative renovations to Lawler Rink. A new luxury pavilion with premium seating at the north end of the rink, enhanced luxury suites, modernized game day club experience, and new designated areas for media, broadcasts and the Merrimack Marching Band. There is a short video of what the future renovations will look like below:

Conference Academic Award Season

We know it’s July and the academic year has been over for a few months, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t news to share. Several D-I conferences have announced All-Academic Team selections.

Conferences have their own academic award criteria, but it’s usually some form of players having a 3.0 or better for 2 or more semesters.

Vermont and Merrimack led Hockey East with 23 selections each.

Yale was tops in the ECAC with 27 selections.

Mercyhurst lead the way in College Hockey America with 26 selections.

You can read each conference’s All-Academic Team release here: ➡️ Hockey East ➡️ ECAC ➡️ CHA

Extras

NCAA Coaches Have An Important July Ahead Of Them

D-I and D-III coaches have a lot at stake this month. With player commitments being made and multiple high profile events taking place mid-month, like USA Hockey’s Under 18 Select Camp or some of the Canadian Provincial Under 18 evaluation camps, July is proving to be a busy but important time of year.

With June 15 in the rear-view mirror and the first wave of recruits making commitment decisions, programs are constantly having to re-adjusting their recruiting priorities. Especially at his time of year given the recruiting cycle, sometimes a player who didn’t start out as high on the list, now either winds up there because teams didn’t get the recruit they wanted or, they have a short window of time to prove they deserve to be there.

And as decisions/commitments happen in D-I, D-III recruiting is greatly impacted. D-III coaches are making commitments themselves with players who know a D-III school is what they want. Subsequently, players that were ‘keeping the D-I dream alive’ and get told ‘NO’ from the D-I schools they were holding out for, could lost a spot at D-III.

It will be a very interesting few weeks as coaches will be using these upcoming events to make some important recruiting decisions.

Here’s just a partial list of events taking place this July that are likely to have a big impact on recruiting decisions.

  • July 11-16, Alberta Provincial U18 Camp
  • July 13-16 Ontario Provincial U18 Camp
  • July 16-22, USA U18 Select Camp (Oxford, OH – Miami University)
  • July 17-19, NAE – North American Elite July Showcase (Haverhill, MA)
  • July 20-23, British Columbia U18 Provincial Camp
  • July 28-30, Beantown Showcase (Marlborough, MA, NESC)

Until Next Time Everyone… Be Well and take Care,

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is wch-pic-logo-header-circle-3-12-21.jpg

-Streams for games in the ECAC can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams in the WCHA can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams in Hockey East this year can be found HERE. Hockey East once again is streaming all game live and for FREE.

-Streams for CHA games with the exception of Penn St. can be found HERE. Paid subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams for NEWHA games can be found at each teams’ website. Subscriptions may be necessary to watch games.


NCAA Coaching Changes… Keep up with all the coaching changes across D-I and D-III HERE.

Recruiting Events/League Online Directory… Find all the recruiting events on WCH.org right HERE. Want to add your event? Click HERE to fill out our WCH.org event form.


Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 4th season as an Assistant Coach with the Yale University women’s hockey program. Grant has developed an experienced perspective in the world of women’s ice hockey, having coached and recruited players from across the globe during his 25+ year amateur and NCAA coaching career. He has coached at 6 NCAA DIII and DI programs in the NCHA (D3), the CHA, WCHA, Hockey East, ECAC, and the Ivy League (DI). Beyond coaching, Grant served as a site representative for the 2019 NCAA quarterfinal of the D-I NCAA Tournament. He also currently serves as an Officer with the American Hockey Coaches Association as Vice President of Membership and sits on the AHCA’s Women’s Hockey Executive Committee.

Post #104 – 7/3/23 – Happy July 4th

Some Errors and Omissions + We’ll Be Back Wednesday July 5th

The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline

Stay informed. Get educated. Become ‘HOCKEY-WISE’!

Your leading online resource for NCAA Women’s College Hockey


Latest From… The Women’s College Hockey Podcast – Episode #3B…

  • Episode #3A Part I – Is Now LIVE|The Recap


Glitchy Links… Back On Wednesday!

My apologies with Sunday’s post and the technical website error with incorrect links to last Wednesday’s and Friday’s posts. For whatever reason (operator error most likely!), they never loaded on to the blog homepage. But, the issue has been fixed and you can find links to both below:

Wednesday – Post #101 – What Coaches Look For

With The Summer Comes Important Evaluation

  • The Answer Is… It Depends
  • Learn What Coaches Look For In Goalies, Defenders, and Forwards

Friday – Post #102 – Friday’s Sifters

Little lobs of news and info from around the world of Women’s College Hockey & Beyond

  • Coaching News
  • Changes To The NLI + Transfer Window Timeframe
  • NCAA Guide For Prospective Student-Athletes Available

Happy July 4th 🇺🇸🧨💥🌭🍔🥩🍦

We hope everyone enjoy’s the holiday here in the US… I’ll be back with my regular scheduled post Wednesday which includes: My quick trip to Quebec City… A HUGE power shift in women’s professional hockey… Plus, my wrap-up of the USA Hockey 16/17 National Development Camp from Oxford, OH and Miami University. 

Until Next Time Everyone… Be Well and take Care,

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is wch-pic-logo-header-circle-3-12-21.jpg

-Streams for games in the ECAC can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams in the WCHA can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams in Hockey East this year can be found HERE. Hockey East once again is streaming all game live and for FREE.

-Streams for CHA games with the exception of Penn St. can be found HERE. Paid subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams for NEWHA games can be found at each teams’ website. Subscriptions may be necessary to watch games.


NCAA Coaching Changes… Keep up with all the coaching changes across D-I and D-III HERE.

Recruiting Events/League Online Directory… Find all the recruiting events on WCH.org right HERE. Want to add your event? Click HERE to fill out our WCH.org event form.


Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 4th season as an Assistant Coach with the Yale University women’s hockey program. Grant has developed an experienced perspective in the world of women’s ice hockey, having coached and recruited players from across the globe during his 25+ year amateur and NCAA coaching career. He has coached at 6 NCAA DIII and DI programs in the NCHA (D3), the CHA, WCHA, Hockey East, ECAC, and the Ivy League (DI). Beyond coaching, Grant served as a site representative for the 2019 NCAA quarterfinal of the D-I NCAA Tournament. He also currently serves as an Officer with the American Hockey Coaches Association as Vice President of Membership and sits on the AHCA’s Women’s Hockey Executive Committee.

Post #102 – 6/30/23 – Friday’s Sifters:

Little lobs of news and info from around the world of women’s college hockey and beyond

The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline

Stay informed. Get educated. Become ‘HOCKEY-WISE’!

Your leading online resource for NCAA Women’s College Hockey


Latest From… The Women’s College Hockey Podcast – Episode #3B…

  • Episode #3A Part I – Is Now LIVE|The Recap


Coaching News, Changes To The NLI, NCAA Guide For PSA’s

As has been the case for several weeks in a row, there is some coaching news to update.

The National Letter of Intent (think scholarship form players sign) program is rumored to be making some changes as is the Transfer 60-day window timeline.

And speaking of changes, the NCAA Eligibility Center Guide for Prospective Student-athletes has been updated. We provide a 23-24 FAQ to read or download.

I break it all down for you below. Let’s get to it.

Coaching News At Colgate, UMD, MCLA, Marian, and A Former Friar Gets Behind ECHL Bench

Looks like more programs at the D-I level are advertising for their 3rd assistant coach positions, although most aren’t calling it a ‘3rd assistant coach’. The NCAA approved a 4th coach earlier this passed winter while removing the ‘volunteer coach’ designation. It will be interesting to see how head coaches use this position.

Colgate has announced it is looking for a 3rd Assistant Coach / Director of Operations.

Minnesota-Duluth has announced its looking to fill two positions: Assistant Coach and Director of Women’s Hockey Operations.

MCLA, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, a new D-III program is seeking applications for its assistant coaching position.

Marian University has advertised for its open Head Coach position.

Bob Deraney, Former Providence Friar Women’s Head Coach, has been named Assistant Coach of the Worcester Railers of the ECHL. The Railers are an affiliate of the New York Islanders. You can read more on his hiring HERE.

Changes to the NLI Coming + Transfer Window Timeframe

The National Letter of Intent (NLI) program is rumored to be undergoing some changes which will take effect for the 2024-2025 season and would impact all athletic scholarship award winner.

As reported by The Athletic earlier this week, these changes are aimed at loosening the penalties for athletes when they request to be released from their NLI under certain conditions.

The NLI Program is managed by the NCAA while the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA) provides governance oversight of the program. Athletes receiving institutional athletics related aid (athletic scholarship money) from a D-I or D-II school, receives paperwork from the NLI program which must be signed by the student and guardian/parents if under the age of 18.

The purposed changes are:

  1. No NLI penalty if the signee requests their release as the result of a head coaching change
  2. No NLI penalty if the signee completes at least one academic semester or quarter at the institution of their choice
  3. Additionally, four-year transfers will be able to sign a NLI after entering the transfer portal. This is not a requirement to transfer, signing a NLI would trigger a recruiting ban, meaning other schools would not be allowed to make contact once the player has signed with an institution.

The 60-Day Transfer Timeframe Is Changing… The 60-day timeframe window student-athletes had to notify its athletic administration and coaches about entering the Transfer portal could be decreasing to 30 days. The NCAA has viewed the data from this past athletic season and it appears, 60 days is not needed. The D-I council made the 30-day recommendation which will be voted on In October. You can read more about the Transfer window change HERE.

NCAA Guide for Prospective-Student Athletes Available

It’s always incumbent upon recruits and their families to know the NCAA process as a prospective student-athlete.

So, to help, here is a great read which every recruit and parent should look through.

It’s called the NCAA Guide For The College Bound Student-Athlete. It’s your one-stop-shop recruiting booklet that covers just about anything you might be wondering about relative to becoming a D-I or D-III NCAA hockey player.

The 23-24 version is not out yet. But there is a FAQ which is quite helpful . You can find both below and can download the PDF’s as well.

The 22-23 Guide can. be found there as well, also with the PDF file to download.

Enjoy!

Until Next Time Everyone… Be Well and take Care,

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is wch-pic-logo-header-circle-3-12-21.jpg

-Streams for games in the ECAC can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams in the WCHA can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams in Hockey East this year can be found HERE. Hockey East once again is streaming all game live and for FREE.

-Streams for CHA games with the exception of Penn St. can be found HERE. Paid subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams for NEWHA games can be found at each teams’ website. Subscriptions may be necessary to watch games.


NCAA Coaching Changes… Keep up with all the coaching changes across D-I and D-III HERE.

Recruiting Events/League Online Directory… Find all the recruiting events on WCH.org right HERE. Want to add your event? Click HERE to fill out our WCH.org event form.


Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 4th season as an Assistant Coach with the Yale University women’s hockey program. Grant has developed an experienced perspective in the world of women’s ice hockey, having coached and recruited players from across the globe during his 25+ year amateur and NCAA coaching career. He has coached at 6 NCAA DIII and DI programs in the NCHA (D3), the CHA, WCHA, Hockey East, ECAC, and the Ivy League (DI). Beyond coaching, Grant served as a site representative for the 2019 NCAA quarterfinal of the D-I NCAA Tournament. He also currently serves as an Officer with the American Hockey Coaches Association as Vice President of Membership and sits on the AHCA’s Women’s Hockey Executive Committee.

Post #99 – 6/21/23 – Tier I Girls Conversation Coming

USA Hockey get’s the conversation going for Girls Tier I this July

The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline

Stay informed. Get educated. Become ‘HOCKEY-WISE’!

Your leading online resource for NCAA Women’s College Hockey


Latest From… The Women’s College Hockey Podcast – Episode #3B…

  • Episode #3A Part I – Is Now LIVE|The Recap


USA Hockey To Hold ‘Girls Tier I Community Conversation’ In Oxford

In conjunction with the U18 Select Camp this July in Oxford, Ohio, USA Hockey will gather important stakeholders within the Tier I level of Girls Hockey to get the conversation going.

From July 15-16, discussions will take place around the topics of hockey development, rules and regulations, National Championships, and club support. Also included will be brainstorming sessions and a presentation from the U-18 National Team Coaching Staff on player development.

Kudos to USA Hockey for hosting such an event. The hockey world is pretty small, the women’s side of the game smaller.

Nothing moves forward or get’s solved without dialogue. And the U-18 Select Camp provides a perfect opportunity to gather coaches and administrators as well as club personnel – who care about the direction of the game and how to improve it.

I’ll keep you updated about what we hear.

Until Next Time Everyone… Be Well and take Care,

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is wch-pic-logo-header-circle-3-12-21.jpg

-Streams for games in the ECAC can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams in the WCHA can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams in Hockey East this year can be found HERE. Hockey East once again is streaming all game live and for FREE.

-Streams for CHA games with the exception of Penn St. can be found HERE. Paid subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams for NEWHA games can be found at each teams’ website. Subscriptions may be necessary to watch games.


NCAA Coaching Changes… Keep up with all the coaching changes across D-I and D-III HERE.

Recruiting Events/League Online Directory… Find all the recruiting events on WCH.org right HERE. Want to add your event? Click HERE to fill out our WCH.org event form.


Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 4th season as an Assistant Coach with the Yale University women’s hockey program. Grant has developed an experienced perspective in the world of women’s ice hockey, having coached and recruited players from across the globe during his 25+ year amateur and NCAA coaching career. He has coached at 6 NCAA DIII and DI programs in the NCHA (D3), the CHA, WCHA, Hockey East, ECAC, and the Ivy League (DI). Beyond coaching, Grant served as a site representative for the 2019 NCAA quarterfinal of the D-I NCAA Tournament. He also currently serves as an Officer with the American Hockey Coaches Association as Vice President of Membership and sits on the AHCA’s Women’s Hockey Executive Committee.

Post #96 – 6/16/23 – Friday’s Sifters

Little lobs of news and info from around the world of women’s college hockey and beyond

The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline

Stay informed. Get educated. Become ‘HOCKEY-WISE’!

Your leading online resource for NCAA Women’s College Hockey


Latest From… The Women’s College Hockey Podcast – Episode #3B…

  • Episode #3A Part I – Is Now LIVE|The Recap


Coaching News, Whitehouse Travels, Swedes Check, New Commish

It’s been an eventful week.

Coaching hires and promotions have been announced, Wisconsin went to the Whitehouse, Sweden is expanding it’s body checking rule, and the ECAC hired a new commissioner.

Let’s get to it.

Coaching News At Vermont, Lindenwood, and Princeton

University of Vermont Assistant Coach Alex Gettens has been promoted to Associate Head Coach. Alex will begin his 6th year this upcoming season.

Reah Coad, former Head Coach of the Buffalo Beauts of the PHF, has been named an Assistant Coach at Lindenwood University. Coad spent 2 years behind the bench for the Beauts. You can read the release HERE.

Princeton has hired a new assistant coach, Melissa Samoskevich. Samoskevich comes from Quinnipiac where she was the Director of Player Development and Operations while also playing for the Connecticut Whale of the PHF. Prior to her time at Quinnipiac, Samoskevich previous coached at Penn St.

Wisconsin Almost Misses Whitehouse Visit

Darn E-mail spam folders!

The 2023 National Champs the Wisconsin Badgers finally made the trip to the Whitehouse last week to be honored on College Athlete Day. Strangely, the trip almost never happened.

Read the crazy story HERE.

Sweden Expands Checking Rule

The Swedish Ice Hockey Federation is expanding its checking rules in women’s hockey.

In addition to the SDHL and NDHL, checking/body contact will now be allowed in Sweden’s four younger regional Junior women’s leagues as well.

86% of players surveyed reported having a positive experience with the new checking rules that were introduced for the 2022-2023 season. The new rules allowed intentional body-contact along the boards or if players were skating in the same direction but no opposite directional open-ice hits were allowed.

This past season, The NCAA standard on body contact, not so much changed, but was an area of focus and more was allowed. The NCAA rules don’t allow for intentional body contact as Sweden’s rule do, but the NCAA game is definitely getting more physical.

You can read the full story on Sweden’s decision HERE.

The ECAC Lands New Commissioner

Doug Christiansen has been named Commissioner of ECAC Hockey. He takes over for Commissioner Stephen Hagwell who has held the commissioner’s post since 2005.

As a former Union College Men’s hockey player (1998-2002) and most recently in his role as Deputy Commissioner of the United States Hockey League (USHL), Christiansen brings a vast hockey background to the position.

You can read more on his hiring HERE.

Until Next Time Everyone… Be Well and take Care,

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is wch-pic-logo-header-circle-3-12-21.jpg

-Streams for games in the ECAC can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams in the WCHA can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams in Hockey East this year can be found HERE. Hockey East once again is streaming all game live and for FREE.

-Streams for CHA games with the exception of Penn St. can be found HERE. Paid subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams for NEWHA games can be found at each teams’ website. Subscriptions may be necessary to watch games.


NCAA Coaching Changes… Keep up with all the coaching changes across D-I and D-III HERE.

Recruiting Events/League Online Directory… Find all the recruiting events on WCH.org right HERE. Want to add your event? Click HERE to fill out our WCH.org event form.


Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 4th season as an Assistant Coach with the Yale University women’s hockey program. Grant has developed an experienced perspective in the world of women’s ice hockey, having coached and recruited players from across the globe during his 25+ year amateur and NCAA coaching career. He has coached at 6 NCAA DIII and DI programs in the NCHA (D3), the CHA, WCHA, Hockey East, ECAC, and the Ivy League (DI). Beyond coaching, Grant served as a site representative for the 2019 NCAA quarterfinal of the D-I NCAA Tournament. He also currently serves as an Officer with the American Hockey Coaches Association as Vice President of Membership and sits on the AHCA’s Women’s Hockey Executive Committee.

Post #95 – 6/14/23 – D-I Recruiting Kicks Into High Gear For 2025 Class

D-I Coaches Begin Communication with Players Entering Grade 11 This Fall Starting Thursday

The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline

Stay informed. Get educated. Become ‘HOCKEY-WISE’!

Your leading online resource for NCAA Women’s College Hockey


Latest From… The Women’s College Hockey Podcast – Episode #3B…

  • Episode #3A Part I – Is Now LIVE|The Recap


June 15 Arrives Thursday, What to Know

Well, so much for my shorter post idea 😂.

Longer post… but worth the read.


Tomorrow Thursday, June 15 will be a very busy day for the 44 D-I hockey programs as the recruiting cycle begins for the 2025 class. It will also be a busy and exciting day for hundreds of players across the globe as they begin their quest to play NCAA D-I hockey.

NCAA recruiting rules state D-I coaches my initiate contact with recruits for the first time via phone, email, text, direct social media message, etc. Coaches are now able to have recruiting conversations with recruits and family members as well as make official verbal scholarship or non-scholarship offers to join their program.

As exciting as this time of year can be for players and families, it can also bring a lot of stress and anxiety – both for those who are engaged in the process and for those who are not – but want to be. So with, June 15 less than 24-hours away, here a few things to keep in mind so you don’t drive yourself bonkers.

  • All Is Not Lost
  • It’s A Numbers Game
  • Do Prepare
  • Your Situation Is Not Anyone Else’s
  • January or February Could be More Important

All is not lost if you don’t get a phone call

Just because you didn’t get a call on June 15, does not – in any way – mean your D-I dream is dead.

Far from it in fact. Players make it to the NHL undrafted every season–Last night’s Con Smythe Stanley Cup winner as an example! There are many players in every recruiting class, who wind up playing at a D-I school that never got a call on June 15.

So while they may not have gotten a call on that day, they stayed patient, focussed on the process, and worked on their game. The only thing not getting a call means, is you have a bit more work and developing to do. So keep the process in perspective as well as your own development. Sometimes the process takes time.

Every D-I spot doesn’t get committed on June 15, or even Feb. 15 for that matter. Recruiting is one of those living, breathing entities that can change in a heartbeat. Coaches get a ‘NO’ from a recruit and it can change the whole trajectory of their process. It’s also not uncommon for coaches to hold spots free so they can see how players develop over the season. You may not have gotten a call, but you may be on some coaches list and are being talked about as a player to keep watching.

Coaches usually have a pecking order to their recruiting lists and will spend time talking with their priority recruits first. There are only so many coaches who are allowed to make phone calls due to NCAA rules, and there is only so much time in the day. It may take a day or two or three for a coaching staff to plow through all of the calls they need to make.

It’s a bit of a numbers game

More players could get calls this year. Why?

The 5th year COVID grad transfer player goes away in 2025. That means an extra 90-100-ish roster spots will open up and have the opportunity to be filled by graduating High School seniors or PG’s.

When you run the numbers, an average recruiting class is 6 recruits per team. So, the 2025 recruiting class could potentially be at about 264 incoming first year players give or take, 44 teams x 6 players per team = 264. An influx of over 35% more first-year NCAA players.

There are only so many D-I prospects and most schools overlap in calling the same ones. So, how many recruits does a school need call in order to commit its class of 6 players? Great question. I’ve worked at a variety of institutions and I can tell you some years our program has had to call 40 and in others it’s been over 100. But keep in mind there is quite a bit of overlap with schools calling the same player.

There are a lot more players than there are available D-I spots. It’s competitive and you really do need to be in the upper echelon of the talent pyramid to play at the highest level.

If you expect to get some calls, do prepare

There is nothing worse for a coach when talking to a recruit, and it’s a one-sided conversation with the coach doing all the talking. If you anticipate getting some calls, do prepare to talk-back and engage! Have some questions prepared to ask. Have some answers prepared you can speak to if you get questions like, what are you looking for in a school? Do you know what you want to study? When do you see yourself making a decision?

Do return calls, emails, and texts if you get them – even if you aren’t interested in the school. How you handle your hockey affairs says a lot about who you are. So, do take the time to reply. And it’s okay to say you aren’t interested. Sometime a ‘No’ in the recruiting world to a coach, is as good as a ‘yes’ because it allows some focus to come into play. And really – thats a lot of what coaches and players/families are looking for, right? Info so you can know where to focus.

The important piece here, is to do some homework and be prepared.

Don’t compare your process to anyone else but you

Your teammates are getting calls, going on visits, and making decisions. You on the other hand, aren’t doing any of those things… the only thing you’re getting, is bitter at your teammates.

As a player, you start to question things, over-analyze situations, and can talk yourself into a mental tizzy. The reality is, the more you try to dissect why someone is getting the love, and you aren’t, the worse you’ll make yourself feel. And you’ll never know the answers you’re wondering about.

So don’t compare your teammates’ situation to yours. There is a lot that goes into why a coaching staff may want to recruit a certain player. It could be the way the shoot, their position, skill, size, how good of a student they are, financial reasons–you name it. What you can do, is compare yourself to the day before. How did you make your situation or you as a student or as a player – better today than yesterday.

Change Your Mindset

Don’t worry about June 15. Worry about January or February 15 of your grade 11 year instead. Here’s why.

You don’t get a call on June 15 – big WOOP.

If February 15 has come and gone with no calls in your grade 11 year, may be its time to reassess your college hockey goals and start returning those emails, texts, and voicemails from D-III schools.

The amount of growth a player can have between June and February is huge. That’s 7 months! As I said earlier, programs always seem to have some space (and some $$) on the their rosters so they can catch that later bloomer.

So, think about changing your mindset. Get rid of June 15 as the be-all end-all date of dates… focus on the growth you can have during your grade 11 year instead.

Bottom Line

June 15 is the start of something… but certainly not the end.

In most cases, it’s just the beginning of a 2 year time window from when a player could potentially arrive on campus.

Thats a long time for growth and development.

Keep the focus on you and your growth process while keeping all options open that come your way. Your mental health will thank you!

Until Next Time Everyone… Be Well and take Care,

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is wch-pic-logo-header-circle-3-12-21.jpg

-Streams for games in the ECAC can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams in the WCHA can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams in Hockey East this year can be found HERE. Hockey East once again is streaming all game live and for FREE.

-Streams for CHA games with the exception of Penn St. can be found HERE. Paid subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams for NEWHA games can be found at each teams’ website. Subscriptions may be necessary to watch games.


NCAA Coaching Changes… Keep up with all the coaching changes across D-I and D-III HERE.

Recruiting Events/League Online Directory… Find all the recruiting events on WCH.org right HERE. Want to add your event? Click HERE to fill out our WCH.org event form.


Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 4th season as an Assistant Coach with the Yale University women’s hockey program. Grant has developed an experienced perspective in the world of women’s ice hockey, having coached and recruited players from across the globe during his 25+ year amateur and NCAA coaching career. He has coached at 6 NCAA DIII and DI programs in the NCHA (D3), the CHA, WCHA, Hockey East, ECAC, and the Ivy League (DI). Beyond coaching, Grant served as a site representative for the 2019 NCAA quarterfinal of the D-I NCAA Tournament. He also currently serves as an Officer with the American Hockey Coaches Association as Vice President of Membership and sits on the AHCA’s Women’s Hockey Executive Committee.

Post #86 – 5/30/23 – Save Your Sanity

Learn how to gain back your summers, save time, money, and your mental health.

The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline

Stay informed. Get educated. Become ‘HOCKEY-WISE’!

Your leading online resource for NCAA Women’s College Hockey


Latest From… The Women’s College Hockey Podcast – Episode #3B…

  • Episode #3A Part I – Is Now LIVE|The Recap


Save Your Sanity

A follow up to ‘The Silly Season’

First, we have an omission to clarify. Earlier in the week I mentioned D-III would have 3 new institutions start programs for in the fall. I was incorrect… there will actually be 4. Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) will also be adding a program. This gives D-III 71 varsity teams for next season.

Okay… onto today’s post.

Parents… this post is primarily for you. But players, this is really important for you to read as well.

I said I would try and explain how families can get back some sanity to their summers while potentially saving some serious $, and put some control back in your daughter(s) quest to play college hockey. I also think in addition, if you can do a few things outlined below, you’ll be giving your mental health big boost too.

Families can spend an inordinate amount of time and money – THOUSANDS of dollars, easily in the 4 and 5 figures, on tournament teams, showcases, and camps.

So how can you recoup some of your summer and actually have one? First, It’s important to understand there are couple of forces in play, which you have little to no control over.

One, there is an overabundance of Summer ‘recruiting’ options. Everyone seems to run a showcase or camp touting how it will help you in the recruiting process. I just updated my list for June alone (link at the end of the post) and I’m at 23 and counting. Uh, email just came in. Make that 24.

Two, Chances are, college coaches have already watched your daughter(s) play, especially if you’er a player beyond grade 9. College coaches have to make the best use of their recruiting time in the summer. That means talent depth of an event is important.

Three, Recruiting is a numbers game. A typical D-I recruiting class is about 250 players at D-III it’s about 450. The size of the actual recruiting pool is closer to probably 1,500 to 2,000 grade 12 & Post-Grad players globally. Add 80-90+ D-I graduate transfers and that 250 just went to 160. At D-III we’re not completely sure what the 5th Year grad transfer numbers are. Bottom line – you have to be excellent to play at the highest level.

For the recruiting class of 2025, we’re basically back to pre-covid numbers on recruiting – no more COVID 5th year grad transfer recruits.

Four, The college hockey recruiting culture and environment is largely driven by the recruiting rules that govern D-I.

Five, There is a huge difference between exposure and development. A good way to think of it – exposure is a great way to show how much development in your game has taken place. Having a good balance between development and exposure is a great way to go about planning your summer’s hockey activites.

Like most things in life, a healthy balance between a few things is a pretty good recipe for success. So, if you’re sick of running around the globe with your family in toe, hoping your credit card doesn’t decline at the next hotel stop, there are ways in which to approach a change in your summer hockey schedule that can really have a positive impact.

  • 1) Buy into the concept of less = more and don’t fear FOMO. Reallocate your financial resources and commit to attending less events and have your daughter focus on training and the process of getting better. It takes work.
  • 2) Pay for some type of regularly scheduled ON and OFF-ice training be it a gym membership or personal trainer, on-ice skill development and or a power skating coach for at least 6-8 weeks, 2-4 times per week. 4 on-ice session per week over 8 weeks = 32 sessions of training. You can get 50% of a seasons’ worth of on-ice training in 8 weeks. Off-ice training, in my opinion is the single biggest driver of on-ice performance.
  • 3) Create a summer development plan. Figure out what type of training you’ll commit to doing, pull out the calendar and schedule what your summer will look like so you can not only attend a few events based on what you want to get out of them but continue to train.
  • 4) Take the rest of your saved money and put 1/2 toward a nice vacation for all her hard work and the other 1/2 into the college fund.

If she won’t commit to trying something like that, you may want to rethink spending all that money in the future.

So what’s the payoff?

#1, you’ll give your daughter a chance to prove she’s committed enough to play college hockey – because no matter D-I or D-III, there is a lot more practicing and training than playing games. You’ll save money in the long run and give your daughter a chance to actually improve her game. So, when she does get in front of college coaches, she’ll hopefully make a positive impression.

#2, college coaches don’t need to see you play 9 different times between June and August. Remember, chances are – they’ve already watched you play multiple times and have an opinion. What coaches do like seeing – is a player improve.

#3, I mentioned a boost to your mental health. And this may be the single biggest benefit of all. This time in your daughter’s life, this path she’s on to play college hockey, can be extremely stressful. Not only for her, but for you as her parent. This is where you really need to be cognizant of your mindset. Are you and your daughter controlling the path or are you on the hamster-wheel? Because if you are on the wheel, then the process will control you. Usually, we feel stress when things are out of our control or we can’t quite see how an outcome is derived. FOMO is real. But if you’re FOMO is because you’re missing the next 3 showcases, that’s like fake FOMO. If you’re going to have FOMO, at least let it be for her missing out on the 3 weeks of off-ice training while you hit the showcase circuit.

Your mental health is extremely important. Make a plan and you’ll feel less anxious about the future.

It does seem a little ‘silly’… this type of environment that exists. The NCAA could make some future changes to recruiting but for now, it is business as usual. Exposure to college coaches is good – when you are a good competent player. Exposure is bad… when you can’t really play the game. Signing up for 9 different events when your shot can’t reach the net or you can’t break the puck out, isn’t a good plan.

In closing, of course not everyone is on the hamster-wheel. There are quite a few families who subscribe to the ‘focus on development first’ theory. Honestly, most players don’t need a ton of extra exposure in the summer. They get enough during the regular hockey season. What most do need, is to map out a plan, put in the work and train so they can improve.

Oh… if you want to see my event list – as I mentioned it above – just click HERE.

Until Next Time Everyone… Be Well and take Care,

-Streams for games in the ECAC can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams in the WCHA can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams in Hockey East this year can be found HERE. Hockey East once again is streaming all game live and for FREE.

-Streams for CHA games with the exception of Penn St. can be found HERE. Paid subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams for NEWHA games can be found at each teams’ website. Subscriptions may be necessary to watch games.


NCAA Coaching Changes… Keep up with all the coaching changes across D-I and D-III HERE.

Recruiting Events/League Online Directory… Find all the recruiting events on WCH.org right HERE. Want to add your event? Click HERE to fill out our WCH.org event form.


Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 4th season as an Assistant Coach with the Yale University women’s hockey program. Grant has developed an experienced perspective in the world of women’s ice hockey, having coached and recruited players from across the globe during his 25+ year amateur and NCAA coaching career. He has coached at 6 NCAA DIII and DI programs in the NCHA (D3), the CHA, WCHA, Hockey East, ECAC, and the Ivy League (DI). Beyond coaching, Grant served as a site representative for the 2019 NCAA quarterfinal of the D-I NCAA Tournament. He also currently serves as an Officer with the American Hockey Coaches Association as Vice President of Membership and sits on the AHCA’s Women’s Hockey Executive Committee.

Post #85 – 5/29/23 – The Silly Season


The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline

Stay informed. Get educated. Become ‘HOCKEY-WISE’!

Your leading online resource for NCAA Women’s College Hockey


Latest From… The Women’s College Hockey Podcast – Episode #3B…

  • Episode #3A Part I – Is Now LIVE|The Recap


The Silly Season Begins

For our readers in the US, hopefully you are enjoying your Memorial Day with friends and family and making something great on the grill.

As Memorial Day is the unofficial start to Summer, in just a few short days the official start of the women’s college hockey recruiting season will begin – on June 1st. ‘The Silly Season’ as I would call it – is here.

I can’t lay claim to coining the phrase… For those who are regular listeners of NHL Sirius XM station like I am, you have surly heard the term – The Silly Season. A reference to all the crazy Tom-Foolery nonsense that surrounds NHL Free-Agency which begins July 1. Such a great term I had to use it.

So, for NCAA Coaches and youth hockey families, the summer can be a ‘Silly’ time of year. It can even seem more busy that the regular season. Is there really ever really a break?

For players and families ‘The Silly Season’ means traveling around and attending recruiting events from coast to coast, all across the globe for much of the summer. Your focus is primarily on getting as much exposure to college coaches as you can… and giving up the chance to play another sport, have a job, do some volunteer work, and really – just be a kid in the summer.

For College Coaches, ‘The Silly Season’ means a lot of recruiting: Phone calls to recruits at all hours of the day, lots of time in the car, airport and hotels, hours spent in rinks either working hockey camps or evaluating potential recruits. And lots of hours away from family and friends.

It’s like players and coaches are on the same hamster-wheel. Coaches chase players because we go where the players are, and players are chasing their college hockey dreams based on where coaches say they’ll be at.

Does it need to be this way?

No, it doesn’t.

And in tomorrow’s post, I’ll explain how you can control the silliness, get more out the recruiting process, while buying time and saving money.

Until Next Time Everyone… Be Well and take Care,

-Streams for games in the ECAC can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams in the WCHA can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams in Hockey East this year can be found HERE. Hockey East once again is streaming all game live and for FREE.

-Streams for CHA games with the exception of Penn St. can be found HERE. Paid subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams for NEWHA games can be found at each teams’ website. Subscriptions may be necessary to watch games.


NCAA Coaching Changes… Keep up with all the coaching changes across D-I and D-III HERE.

Recruiting Events/League Online Directory… Find all the recruiting events on WCH.org right HERE. Want to add your event? Click HERE to fill out our WCH.org event form.


Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 4th season as an Assistant Coach with the Yale University women’s hockey program. Grant has developed an experienced perspective in the world of women’s ice hockey, having coached and recruited players from across the globe during his 25+ year amateur and NCAA coaching career. He has coached at 6 NCAA DIII and DI programs in the NCHA (D3), the CHA, WCHA, Hockey East, ECAC, and the Ivy League (DI). Beyond coaching, Grant served as a site representative for the 2019 NCAA quarterfinal of the D-I NCAA Tournament. He also currently serves as an Officer with the American Hockey Coaches Association as Vice President of Membership and sits on the AHCA’s Women’s Hockey Executive Committee.

Post #29 — 2/9/21 — Welcome to women’s college hockey.org

In This Post…

  • Welcome to Women’s College Hockey.org
  • NCAA Weekly Polls
  • Sifters — lots of them

Welcome to Women’s College Hockey.org

Hello everyone, Grant Kimball here, assistant women’s hockey coach at Yale University and welcome to Women’s College Hockey.org! Many of you started following my Bulldog Pipeline blog back in early October where we kept you updated with news, notes, and insight about our program at Yale as well as across the world of NCAA women’s college hockey. Since then, we’ve heard from many of you saying how much you enjoy our content, especially on the recruiting side with all the changes happening in the NCAA due to COVID.

So, in an effort to better serve and educate prospective players, coaches and fans about NCAA women’s college hockey welcome to your new home – Women’s College Hockey.org. Our new site is more robust which allows for additional content and special features like dedicated pages for advice to help you understand the recruiting process, view video clips of game highlights and coaches post-game reaction, league standings, and so much more. There may even be a podcast in our future!

The Bulldog Pipeline IS NOT GOING AWAY but it will get a new home as well on the official Yale Athletics Women’s Hockey website which can be found HERE–be sure to bookmark it! All previous content specific to our program from bulldogpipeline.com will migrate over.

Now you have two great online sources to keep you up to date with what’s going on in NCAA women’s college hockey AND with your Yale Bulldogs. We’ll continue to send emails of new posts once they go live. If you already signed up to follow the Bulldog Pipeline there is no need to do so again. And if you want to keep up to date with all that is going on in the world of Women’s College Hockey – sign up now and give us a follow so you never miss a post! Just go to the Home Page and enter your email address in the ‘Follow Us‘ box located in the right-hand margin of the page.

Okay… on to some women’s college hockey news! Happy reading everyone!

NCAA Weekly Polls…

Weekly polls are out as of Feb. 8 with no change at all between them except for the #8 and #9 spots.

RANKTEAM
1Wisconsin
2Minnesota
3Northeastern
4Ohio State
5Colgate
6-TMinnesota-Duluth
6-TBoston College
8Penn State
9Clarkson
10Providence
USCHO.com Poll
RANKTEAM
1Wisconsin
2Minnesota
3Northeastern
4Ohio State
5Colgate
6Minnesota-Duluth
7Boston College
8Clarkson
9Penn State
10Providence
USA Hockey Magazine/USA Today Poll

Sifters…

New National Goaltending Award Announced… The Women’s Hockey Commissioners Association announced a new D-I women’s national goaltender of the year award given annually to the top female goaltender. The winner will be announced at this years Frozen Four in March held in Erie, PA. On the men’s side they’ve had the exact same award named after former Wisconsin goalie Mike Richter since the 2013-2014 season. The Hockey Commissioners Association assumed the responsibility for the Richter Award this Fall and felt a women’s equivalent was long overdue. A ‘watch list’ of 21 names was announced last week. You can see who’d on that list HERE.

The Hockey Commissioners Association is made up of the commissioners of each women’s and men’s D-I conferences. They are heavily involved in the administration of NCAA D-I women’s and men’s college hockey as well as serving as a partner with the NCAA and the institutions their conferences represent.

D-III Winter National Championships Cancelled… All NCAA Division-III 2020-2021 Winter National Championships have been cancelled as per the NCAA last week. You can read the official story HERE. The NCAA said the reason for the cancellations were due to low sport participation, meaning there weren’t enough teams in their respective sports to have a bona-fide true National Championship. The NCAA set strict limits on how many teams in each sport must play this season in order to play and national tournament. No word yet on what will happen with Spring championships yet.

NCAA Contingencies for Winter Sports Announced… With the NCAA cancelling D-III Winter championships last week, they came out with a statement on contingencies for D-I Winter and Spring sport national championships. You can read the announcement HERE. Based on the number of teams competing in D-I hockey, a full 8-team field is expected to be selected.

One Site Location for Women’s D-I Championship… The NCAA announced it will hold the entire NCAA Women’s National Collegiate Championship at its Frozen Four site in Erie, PA March 15-21. All 7 games of the tournament, 4 qtr. final, 2 semi-final, and 1 championship game will be played at one site. Normally the 4 highest seeds would host a quarter-final game with the winners moving on to a single-site for the Frozen Four. Of course, this is all done to protect the health and safety of all participants in an environment where the NCAA can control what it wants – namely COVID testing. You can read the official statement HERE.

SAT Testing News… A big change from from The College Board, the company that administers the SAT Test… SAT Subject tests will no longer be offered and the optional Essay on the SAT will no longer be offered after the June SAT dates. You can read the official announcement HERE. Some additional SAT test dates were announced as well.

SAT/ACT Test Optional to Continue? A number of high profile institutions, Cornell and Harvard to name a few, have recently announced its extending test-optional policies beyond the ’20-’21 admissions cycle and into ’21-’22. No word if other institutions will follow suit, but you have to think with all the trouble students across the US and Canada have had to even register for a test date, more schools will go test optional.

Dartmouth and Brown announce Athletic Director changes… The Ivy League athletic director landscape has been upended with the announcements of Brown University Athletic Director Jack Hayes and Dartmouth AD Harry Sheehy will step down from their respective posts. Hayes has been at the Brown helm since 2012 and will move on to explore other opportunities, one of which starts March 1 in a new role with Bruin Sports Capital a private sports, entertainment and media company. Sheehy will depart Dartmouth after 45 years in competitive athletics, the last ten of which he spent with the Big Green. The news comes on the heels of both departments deciding to ‘restructure’ and cut various sport programs last Spring and Summer as the COVID-19 pandemic put a choke hold on college athletics. There has been an alumni groundswell of support as well as lawsuits to bring some of those sports back and some with success.

Until Next Time… Have a great weekend everyone!

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