AWHCA ANNUAL MEETINGS
April 26-27, 2000 - Naples, FL

Wednesday 4-26-00 (8-10 AM)

Click HERE for a list of all attending coaches

handouts: agendas, salary study questionnaires

(*introductions, attendance and directory updates taken)

budget review - approximately $7000 to date (up from $1800 4/99); Currently 50 active members and 10 allied members; balance details to be distributed via mail;

salary study - forms distributed at meeting; please return to Katey Stone ASAP; salary summary to be distributed via mail;

Officers and Board of Director need be elected for 2000-2002;
Jackie Barto - current VP - will take the position of president Sept. 1, 2000
VP and Secretary/Treasurer need to be elected ( 2 year terms)
Association Committee also need to be elected (atleast 5 individuals representing all leagues)

** nomination taken this evening with a vote Thursday morning

Dead Periods:

It was discussed and the group wishes to pursue establishing a dead period around our national tournament; We need to work with the NCAA to establish this legislation;

question: from Jill Pohtilla - Will it effect Div. III? Katey Stone to look into and report back to association.

Game Schedules:

League Schedules and "how to accommodate" inter-league play was discussed. A proposal to block out common weekends between leagues to help with east/west scheduling was discussed. Div. I coaches agreed to this approach and wanted to have Sara Martin (WCHA) and Steve Hagwell (ECAC) meet and work on this approach. Sara told the group that she and Steve were open to it as long as the coaches were in favor of it. Several Div. III coaches mentioned scheduling east/west games was a problem too...no resolution discussed at this time.

Fall Meetings?

The question was raised regarding the need for fall meetings so that active members who could not attend the Naples convention could participate (especially Div. III coaches who do not have a budget which allows them travel). The decision was that we'd stay with one annual meeting as our by-laws state and continue to hold it in conjunction with the AHCA convention. We will make a big effort to improve communication to the membership via Email, our web page (www.rpi.edu/dept/athletics/w_hockey/awhca), and the "Stops and Starts" newsletter.

AWHCA Clinics:

The idea of providing several AWHCA sponsored coaches clinics (for HS, Prep and/or club coaches) as an AWHCA service to women's hockey was discussed. In the discussion, we found out that some programs offer such clinics currently (ie. Brown and PC) and we decided to put the existing clinics under the AWHCA "umbrella". These existing clinics will be advertised by the AWHCA and supported in other appropriate ways.

It was motioned and agreed upon to form a committee to make it happen.

Outreach Committee*: Laura Halldorson (chair), Digit Murphy, Jill Pohtilla, Jane Ford, Tom O'Malley, Donna Wright, and Fred Quistgard.

* The dormant Varsity Seekers Committee (Digit Murphy, Laura Halldorson, and Laura Lyons ) is now considered a sub-committee to the Outreach Committee.

Starting Dates:

This topic created considerable discussion regarding the length of season (limiting or controlling the length of season by number of games) and instituting a uniform start date (Div. I issue). The WCHA started this discussion.

Thoughts brought forward:
We need to discuss and decide what is best for women's hockey..."we don't have to do what the guys do"; several individuals liked the 10 non-league games in the schedule, but does support a uniform start date; 34 games is a limit..each school can decide to play less; perhaps league games should be limited to less than 24 (ECAC); The ECAC will be changing soon to accommodate the schools applying to get in; are we promoting the game vs. helping ourselves?; Is this the right time? we are still growing; "we need to be careful not to get rid of games we may want again later"; perhaps we should just focus on the uniform start date;

The ECAC has a proposal on the table for 2001-2002 to institute NCAA legislation for both men's and women's hockey. Only the ECAC Div. I coaches knew about this...Katey Stone to copy and distribute at the afternoon meeting.

It was motioned and agreed upon to table the discussion for the afternoon meeting when the ECAC 2001-2002 Proposal could be distributed.

Expansion/Support of new programs:

It was stressed that we should all make an effort to play and support new programs.

Thoughts brought forward:
The number of league games prohibit this a bit; Integrity of play vs. promoting support was discussed...maybe we need to "suck it up" for now; new programs need to show commitment; concern about ECAC Div. III being a "melting pot" and diluting the integrity of play...a new league should be formed; the WCHA has a list of requirements for new programs, the ECAC needs to develop requirements;

It was motioned and agreed upon to form a committee to figure out the best way to fold new teams into leagues (a model). this model will be communicated to the leagues as a suggestion to the best way to promote new programs without impacting the integrity of play. Oct. 1, 2000 deadline for proposal to AWHCA membership.

Expansion of Leagues Committee: John Marchetti (chair), Margot Page, Bill Mandigo, Jeff Vizenor, Ruthann Cantile, Tom O'Malley, Adam Brinker

USA Hockey Important Dates:

National Development Camps:
15-16 year olds June 25-July 1st
17-18 year olds July 2-8


Canadian Hockey Important Dates:

National Under 22 team:
Aug. 13-21 Selection camp Calgary
Aug. 22-28 Competition vs. USA Calgary
Nov. 5-13 International competition (TBA)

National Women's Team:
Aug. 13-21 Development Camp (Calgary)
Oct. 3-10 Evaluation camp (Calgary)
Nov. 1-12 4 Nations Cup (Calgary/Salt Lake)
Jan 9-20 Western Tour ( Alberta and BC)
Feb. 1-4 TSN Challenge( Denver and Calgary)
March 25-31 Pre Competition Camp ( TBC)
April 1-8 World Championships

Rules:

It was briefly discussed that the Rules Committee needed an injection of effort and should still be an active committee. It was motioned and agreed upon to re-activate the committee:

Rules Committee: Heather Linstad (chair), Katey Stone, Laura Lyons, Tom Babson, Shannon Miller



Wednesday 4-26-00 (5-7 PM)

handouts: ECAC Proposal for NCAA legislation (starting dates)

Joe Bertagna, Executive Director of AHCA, addressed the membership.

AHCA - American Hockey Coaches Association;

Basic services:
Membership :
comprised of coaches from:
Collegiate men's varsity programs; Collegiate women's programs (AWHCA - American Women's Hockey Coaches Association); Collegiate non-varsity programs (ACHA - American Club Hockey Association); and others (high school programs, club programs, sales representatives, etc.)

Board:
The AHCA board has 1 AWHCA representative currently (Julie Sasner has been our representative for the last 3 years) and may have 2 in the upcoming future. The representatives should represent Division I and III as well as the east and west.

Mailings:
Stops & Starts newsletter

Poll:
Women's Division I weekly poll

Awards:
All-Americans, Division III Player of the Year, Division III Coach of the Year

Convention:
Held every April in Naples, FL (through April 2003).

Banquet:
Held at Annual convention to honor Coaches of the Year and several other AHCA awards.

1999-2000 Problems

Participation and communication between the AHCA and AWHCA have not been adequate. The weekly poll had very poor participation (on average only 4 of 9 voters responded). This is a USA sponsored poll which provides publicity and promotion of the sport. Full participation is needed next year.

A new poll committee was selected from volunteers. USA Hockey Poll Committee for 2000-2001 Karen Kay, Katey Stone, Jackie Barto, Judy Oberting, Todd Carroll, Margot Page, Bob Deraney, Mike Sisti, Ruthann Cantile

Communication for the All-American teams, Players and Coaches of the Year awards this year was not adequate. We need to more effectively communicate our needs to the AHCA board via our representative(s). Monday May 1, 2000 the board will meet and our "wishes" need to be communicated to the AHCA at this time. Julie Sasner will be ending her term as AHCA representative for AWHCA at this meeting and will communicate that we wish to have 2 All-American teams for Division I and Division III each as well as the Division I Coach of the Year, Division III Coach of the Year, and Division III Player of the Year (the Division I Player of the Year is the Patty Kazmaier Award which is handled directly by USA Hockey separately). The All-American selection process is yet to be determined by the AWHCA Association Committee, but a process proposal will be communicated to the AWHCA membership by Oct. 1, 2000. Upon acceptance, it will be given to the AHCA.

Joe concluded with a request to have photos of all collegiate women's hockey coaches be scanned and sent to him for archival purposes. Please collect pictures of all coaches from your institutions and send scanned images to Joe Bertagna at your earliest convenience.

Kazmaier Award:

There was confusion to what the process was in selecting the recipient. This year's recipient was not even named and All-American..this is confusing to our membership and most certainly to the public at large. There was also concern raised that voting was not done "ethically". The desire is that the recipient is truly the "Player of the Year" (not a career award, and not kept from the deserving player for personal reasons).

It was voted unanimously that Laura Halldorson would investigate the process and report back to the membership.

Officiating Systems:

A question regarding consistency of officiating systems was raised. Was it important to have one consistent system for women's hockey? The WCHA (Div. I) uses a 1 referee and 2 asst. refs and the ECAC Div. I is recommending 1 ref and 2 linespeople again this year. (The ECAC Ads need to vote on the proposal next month)

It was decided that this discussion be tabled and revisited at a later date.

Bylaws:

The bylaws were updated by the membership. Revised copies will be distributed to members via mail.

Nominations for officers and Association Committee were taken. Elections will be held Thursday 4/27 at the morning meeting.

2001 National Championship:

Discussion was centered around number of teams involved, composition of teams (Div. I vs. Div. III), concern about Div. III be left out, Is USA Hockey going to host a Div. III tournament with USOC grant money they have for next year? It was recommended that the AWHCA president write a letter to the NCAA women's ice hockey championship committee with recommendations.

It was decided that this discussion be tables and revisiting Thursday 4/27 at the morning meeting.



Thursday 4-27-00 (8-10 AM)

handouts: NCAA Proposed rules changes, ballot

Kelly Dyer, Louisville Hockey New England Rep

Kelly is involved in the IHF committee and USA hockey organization. She reported news from each group to the membership.

Formal testing of the lighter puck has been approved by the IHF. The puck will weigh 5.5 oz, which is a legal weight for USA hockey sanctioned play.

USA Hockey approved a new position to be titled the Women's Hockey Operations Director. This position will be based in Colorado Springs. They are taking applications now and plan to have someone hired for September 1, 2000. This person will oversee all of women's hockey and try and cultivate more grass roots efforts. Interested individuals should contact Doug Palazzarri.

The NCAA Proposed Rules Changes were reviewed and discussed as a group. The rules were to voted on at the convention (all AHCA members).

Troy Arthur, NCAA Championship staff liaison,

He addressed the membership.

Nominations for the NCAA Women's Hockey Championship committee were due Friday 4/48. The structure of the committee will be 3 Div. I representatives, 2 Div. III representatives and 1 Div. II representative. The committee will be responsible for creating a policy manual, selecting a championship site, and selecting the championship date. Each division will select the representative independently using their own processes. A July 18-21, 2000 meeting is already scheduled.

The Championship format for 2001 will be 4 teams, with more to be added at a later date, hopefully. The question was raised as to how can we make sure it is expanded in the future. Troy indicated it is based on numbers (of teams) and he would get back to the membership with the details. The question about how Div. III will get it's own championship was raised. At this time, Div. III will need 40 teams of it's own. The Presidents Council was looking to pass legislation in May to change the number from 40 to 28 to accommodate Div. III and ensure it's own championship in 2002. When asked if any other sports have gotten exceptions such as this, Troy said he would investigate and get back to the membership.

The NCAA ice hockey rules committee has a proposal on the table to expand it's composition to include 2 women's hockey representatives. One each from Division I and III. This proposal should be ratified in May.

Val Belmonte, USA Hockey,

He addressed the membership briefly. He said that USA Hockey will be hosting the 2001 National Championship with the USOC funding allocated for 2001. The format would include 4 teams.

Start Dates/common weekends/length of season:

Phil Buttafucco of the ECAC joined the membership for this discussion. This is a Div. I issue which initiated a lot of dialogue. Again, the ECAC Proposal was discussed at length and the idea that the ice hockey championships need to be different from the basketball championships.

By a vote, the start date was seen as the most important issue. Votes for desiring a designated start date: 17 yes, 2 no, 2 abstain. Votes for shortening the season: 5 yes, 16 no, 0 abstain. Votes to be included in the ECAC proposal: 1 yes, 19 no, 1 abstain.

Transfer Rule:

The discussion centered around the idea that women's hockey should abide by the NCAA transfer rule as indicated for men's hockey. In 1999, the AWHCA membership voted to propose that the language be changed by the NCAA to include women's hockey. This proposal was not passed (no one was sure why). The membership discussed this issue again at length. Some of the thoughts were: to limit movement of athletes ("shopping around" after committing to a program); why should we as coaches want to stop it? If an athlete is not happy, let her goŠ; some coaches indicated that they had tremendous turnover in transfers;

A vote was taken to propose that the NCAA change the working of the transfer rule to include women's hockey (or make it gender neutral): 31 yes, 0 no, 2 abstain; The following people will make sure their conferences propose and support this:
Julie Sasner, Big 10
Karen Kay, America East
Katey Stone, Ivy
Margot Page, MAAC
Tom Babson, Big East

Recruiting Rules/violations:

Many members expressed their dissatisfaction with the execution of recruiting. Several incidents were identified and concerns raised, especially in the area of negative recruiting. We all need to be professional.

It was voted that we would create an Ethics Education Committee to help educate and refresh our knowledge in the area of recruiting. The AWHCA will host an annual event or workshop. (votes: 31 yes, 0 no, 2 abstain)

Ethics Education Committee: Laura Halldorson (chair) Bob Deraney, Tom Babson, Kerry Wethington

Open coaching positions announced:

Full-time Assistant Coaches
Mercyhurst
Niagara
Brown
Wayne State
UNH
Northeastern

Part-time Assistant Coaches
Colgate
Sacred Heart (Grad Asst.)
Amherst
Middlebury (intern)
Princeton

2000-2002 Officers and Committee Members Announced:

President: Jackie Barto, Ohio State University
Vice-President: Jeff Kampersal, Princeton University
Secretary/Treasurer: Jill Pohtilla, Augsburg College

Association Committee:
Paul Flanagan, St. Lawrence University
Todd Carroll, Minnesota State - Mankato
Donna Wright, Wesleyan University
Mike Sisti, Mercyhurst College
Jeff Vizenor, St. Mary's University
Jane Ford, College of the Holy Cross

Current AWHCA committees:

Outreach Committee*: Laura Halldorson (chair), Digit Murphy, Jill Pohtilla, Jane Ford, Tom O'Malley, Donna Wright, and Fred Quistgard.

*The dormant Varsity Seekers Committee (Digit Murphy, Laura Halldorson, and Laura Lyons ) is now considered a sub-committee to the Outreach Committee

Expansion of Leagues Committee: John Marchetti (chair), Margot Page, Bill Mandigo, Jeff Vizenor, Ruthann Cantile, Tom O'Malley, Adam Brinker

Rules Committee: Heather Linstad (chair), Katey Stone, Laura Lyons, Tom Babson, Shannon Miller

Ethics Education Committee: Laura Halldorson (chair) Bob Deraney, Tom Babson, Kerry Wethington

Other Committees:

USA Hockey Poll Committee for 2000-2001
Karen Kay, Katey Stone, Jackie Barto, Judy Oberting, Todd Carroll, Margot Page, Bob Deraney, Mike Sisti, Ruthann Cantile