Post #43 — 7/2/21 – Coaching Update, Recruiting News, Advisors, and Sifters
In This Post…
- Coaching Carousel Update |
- Recruiting News Du Jour |
- Family Advisors & Recruiting Services, Are They Worth It? |
- Sifters |…
Coaching Carousel Update
As of July 2, there are 17 D-I and 3 D-III assistant coaching positions open or yet to be announced. Here are the programs that have filled positions thus far and those who still have openings.
Division I Head / Assistant Coaching Hires
- Boston University – Hockey East – Has hired Kirstin Matthews as an Associate Head Coach and Mollie Fitzpatrick as an Assistant Coach.
- Brown University – ECAC – Has hired Melanie Ruzi as its new Head Coach as well as Justin Simpson and McKenna Newkirk as Assistant Coaches.
- Dartmouth College – ECAC – Has hired Elizabeth Keady-Norton as its new Head Coach and Stephanie Moberg as an Assistant Coach.
- University of New Hampshire – Hockey East – Has hired Samantha Faber as an Assistant Coach
- Quinnipiac University – ECAC – Has hired Brent Hill as an Assistant Coach.
- St. Anselm College – NEWHA – Has hired Jessica Kindret as its Head Coach.
- St. Thomas University – WCHA – Has hired Joel Johnson as it Head Coach as well as Bethany Brausen and Marty Sertich as Assistant Coaches.
- Stonehill College – NEWHA (Start Fall of 2022) – Has hired Tara Watchorn as its Head Coach.
Division I & III Head / Assistant Coach Openings
- University of Connecticut – Hockey East – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN – We are hearing an announcement will be made in the next day or so.
- Dartmouth College – ECAC – Has 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN. A selection has been made and an announcement coming soon.
- Mercyhurst University – CHA – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN
- Merrimack College – Hockey East – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN
- University of Minnesota – WCHA – 2 Assistant Coaches – OPEN
- University of Minnesota-Duluth – WHCA – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN
- Princeton University – ECAC – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN
- Providence College – Hockey East – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN – Hearing a selection has been made and an announcement will be made shortly.
- RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) – ECAC – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN
- Stonehill College – CHA – 2 Assistant Coaches – OPEN
- Syracuse University – CHA – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN – A selection has been made and an announcement will be coming soon.
- Union College – ECAC – 2 Assistant Coaches – OPEN
- Long Island University – NEWHA – 2 Assistant Coaches – OPEN
Division III Head / Assistant Coach Openings
- Bowdoin College – NESCAC – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN
- Colby College – NESCAC – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN
- Trinity College – NESCAC – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN
Recruiting News Du Jour
Stoney Creek Cancels 2021 Showcases… Word came this week to NCAA coaches the 2021 Stoney Creek Bantam/U14, Midget/U16 and University/U19 Showcases have been cancelled. Usually held in the first 3 weeks of September, Stoney Creek usually attracts some of the best talent across each age level from around North America. Sighting a slow reopening from Ontario, there is just too much uncertainty as to when minor hockey will start back up.
In lieu of the Stoney Creek Showcases not happening, there are other events scheduled for September in the US that will take place. A list of events we are aware of for the 21-22 season is listed below beginning in September. We will update this list as time goes on.
USA Hockey National Development Camps… The 16/17 camp ended today. Team Royal and Black led their respective groups with identical records of 3-1-0. According to Twitter, it looks like Royal took home the title.
Full standings can be found below. Links to team rosters and stats can be found HERE. 5 forwards, 4 defensemen, and 4 goalies will be selected to attend the U18 Select camp. These players will come from the 16/17’s and 15’s camps. The 15’s get underway July 10 with the U18 Select camp beginning July 16.
We will be curious to know how heavily scouted the event was by college coaches. We’ll have a recap next week.
Family Advisors and Recruiting Services, Are They Worth It?
We were asked this exact question recently by one of our readers and feel it is a great topic of discussion. As the girls’ game grows, so too does the opportunity for youth/minor hockey players to enter into relationships with ‘Family Advisors’ and use ‘Recruiting’ service companies to help them with their college recruiting process. First, let’s define some terms and some NCAA rules.
The typical ‘Family Advisor’ is usually a person who helps guide recruits and their families through the college recruiting process. Usually for a paid fee, which can vary from under $100 in some cases all the way into the thousands, the Advisor provides a certain set of services–much of it the form of direct communication to provide advice, direction, player evaluation analysis, as well as being a conduit between the recruit/family and college coaches.
A ‘Recruiting Service’ is usually a company who helps market the player to college coaches and programs through emails and online account profiles for players to manage. These companies generally don’t provide a singular person the player/family has direct access to on a regular basis for specific communication. Generally these recruiting services allow players, for a fee, to create online profiles with personal, athletic, academic information, as well as uploaded video to be posted to their profile. Usually college coaches have free access to these player databases and can search by specific criteria like, GPA, height, geographic location, position, etc.
The actual ‘marketing’ these recruiting companies do often comes in the form of emails rather than phone calls, but sometimes both. Emails are tailored to specific schools, with specific players who might be a good fit foor that particular school and hockey program. Emails are then sent to college coaches with link to each player who fits the program and college coaches can access their online profiles.
Recruiting service type companies have different pricing structures, and with each comes a different set of services. Some companies have a trial free account to get started all the way to several hundreds of dollars even into the thousands.
NCAA Rules to Know… Under D-I NCAA Rules, recruits and their families are not allowed to enter into contractual agreements with ‘Agents’. Here is the ncaa rule on use of Agents below:
12.3.1 General Rule. [A] An individual shall be ineligible for participation in an intercollegiate sport if he or she ever has agreed (orally or in writing) to be represented by an agent for the purpose of marketing his or her athletics ability or reputation in that sport. Further, an agency contract not specifically limited in writing to a sport or particular sports shall be deemed applicable to all sports, and the individual shall be ineligible to participate in any sport.
20-21 NCAA manual, page 71
While prospective college hockey players are not allowed to have agents, they are allowed to have ‘family advisors’, even if she/he is also an agent. Bottom line, pay attention to the language used. An agent will render you ineligible, an ‘Advisor’ won’t.
Who should use a family advisor or recruiting service? A family advisor or recruiting service could be a good option if you A) Live in a geographically challenged area and have not been exposed to playing in front of college coaches. B) You are from outside North America and unfamiliar with how the US / NCAA college system works. C) You play boys hockey. D) You are completely freaked out by the process because you are uneducated about it and don’t know anyone who can help you become educated. If you fall into one of these categories, use of a family Advisor/Recruiting service could prove helpful.
Our take is this: Women’s College Hockey.org does not have a particular stance on whether prospective college hockey players should have a family advisor or use a recruiting service. It’s not up to us to tell you how valuable using one of those options may be. But we do get asked the question quite often and what we will say is this:
- Do your homework before entering or signing into any agreement. Know what services you will be provided and the cost of each.
- If thinking about using a family advisor, look at more than one and get references.
- Know how recruiting service companies will ‘market’ you and how they decide to who they will market you to.
- Utilize your current or former coaches as resources to ask questions and get opinions from.
- Be careful of guarantees… A Family Advisor or Recruiting service will never get you a scholarship or spot on a college roster. your workin the classroom, on the ice, and how good of person you are will accomplish that.
Sifters
We’d love to hear from you! Have a specific topic you’d like to see Women’s College Hockey.org cover? More video of women’s hockey? Youth, High School, or Club hockey more often? Let us know what you’re interested in! Just drop us an email to: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com or tweet at us to @WMNSCollHockey. We love hearing suggestions from our readers – we’ll do our best to make it happen.
Hockey Canada… Has announced its National Teams’ Summer camp schedules. The Women’s U18 Team camp will be held July 29 – August 5, 2021 in Calgary, Alberta at the Markin McPhail Centre – Joan Snyder Arena. The camp will have 2 teams of U18 hopefuls. Also as a part of camp will be a team of 2003’s. You can see the complete camp Schedule HERE.
Cornell’s Derraugh to coach with 2022 Canadian Olympic Team… Cornell University Head Coach Doug Derraugh was named an Assistant Coach with Canada’s 2022 Women’s Olympic Team set to compete in Beijing, China. Hockey Canada made the announcement May 13 which can be read HERE. Canada is a country which centeralizes their team leading up to the Olympic Games, meaning they will spend the better part of the 21-22 season training, practicing, and playing together. A Cornell press release indicates Derraugh will be heading back to Ithaca after the World Championships at the end of August. It was not stated when Derraugh would leave Cornell for Team Canada and the Olympic Games.
North of The Border… Canada recently announced that Canadian nationals who are fully vaccinated can travel outside of Canada and return without having to quarantine for 2-weeks upon their return. Travelers must take a have a negative COVID test upon their return. Wondering if that means more Canadian players will be coming down to the US to participate in events like Beatown, etc.
Hockey East… Has 2 graduate internship opportunities for anyone looking to gain experience in media relations or business operations. You can find information HERE.
RMU Legal Representation… The women’s and men’s Robert Morris University hockey teams that were recently discontinued now have legal representation. Attorney Jeffrey L. Kessler, a partner in the New York City law firm of Winston & Strawn, will represent a coalition of Robert Morris University men’s and women’s players. Kessler has a good track record in high profile sports related cases having successfully defended Tom Brady against the NFL and received a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court decision versus the NCAA. You can read more HERE.
Until Next Time… Have a great weekend everyone!