11

SPORTS

The Norwich Guidon
October 30, 2003

Women's hockey wants varsity recognition

By Danielle Meunier
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

Starting in January 1998, women were given the opportunity to play hockey at Norwich as a club sport, but it has been a struggle to gain support and reasonable ice time, according to one of the players.

Beth Carriere, 27, a senior, nursing major from Andover, Mass., began the team in 1998, along with one other woman.

"We literally went around dorms and knocked on people's doors and asked if they wanted to play hockey," Carriere said.

At that time, Kreitzberg Arena hadn't been built, yet, and finding a rink to practice in was difficult.

"We were buying our own ice and playing at the Salt Shed in Montpelier, which no longer exists," Carriere said.

Once Kreitzberg Arena was built, ice time was still hard to come by, because the ice was rented out to other local teams. "Practices ran really late," Carriere said.

Late ice times made it hard for a lot of the women players to balance their time.

"It's hard for students to go to school all day long, then do their homework and studying and wait around for an hour for practice," Carriere said.

Over the last few years, the team has been coached by several people, as well.

"We always had different student assistants. Basically, guys who grew up playing hockey would help us out," said Anne Marie Bryant, 23, a sophomore criminal justice major from Washington , N.J. She added that coaches have come and gone since the start of the team.

Mark Bolding, a civil engineer with Dufresne and Henry, a part-time women's hockey coach, has only been with the team for two years.

"They had a coaching change, and I worked with the men's program as an assistant coach for several years, so I had a familiarity with the school and hockey," Bolding said.

The team displays a "wide range of skills and levels," Bolding said. "Some have played for many, many years, and some are new skaters."

And many of the women are simply enjoying the game.

"The team just welcomed everyone in, and we all had a great time on the ice, learning together," Bryant said.

"I didn't grow up playing hockey, and I don't have the skills, yet, but I still felt comfortable on the ice with the team," Bryant explained.

The team is hoping to reach varsity status but has found it difficult to obtain.

"The eventual goal would be to have a varsity women's program in Division III, but it would entail that the university determine they need to add another varsity female sport that they can fund," Bolding said.

Progress is being seen in that "the school's being more supportive as far as ice time," Bryant said. "And this year, having earlier ice times is a big improvement."

The funding comes from various fundraising the team does, as well as a "combination of the athletic department and activities which support club activities," Bolding said.

Once the team hits varsity, the major change will be in recruiting new players.

"Ice hockey is a sport that a lot of young girls are starting to play," Bryant said. "It will greatly improve our team to be able to bring those girls in; also, we will have more teams to play at a great level of competition."

But at other schools, there aren't many women's hockey teams that are club sports.

"Many other schools have gone up to varsity status," Ziemba said, adding that "it's especially difficult to find enough teams to play, seeing how the girls are only allowed to play New England teams."

The publicity right now is a problem, Ziemba said, explaining that "most of our games get announced during the men's hockey games," and people are surprised that there's a women's hockey team.

"Just in the last couple of years, there's been an incredible change in support from the school; we've received more money and more playing time," Ziemba said. "For right now, I think we're all happy with what we have and the opportunity."

The women's hockey team's first game is going to be against UMass Boston at 11 p.m. on Nov. 10, at home in Kreitzberg Arena. Their second game is against St. Michael's college, away on Nov. 14 at 8 p.m.

The Norwich Guidon is a twice-monthly student newspaper distributed at Norwich University. It provides laboratory experience for students in the Communications program. Claims asserted by letter writers, editorials and other articles do not represent the positions of Norwich University. The Norwich Guidon welcomes signed letters to the editor. They should be no longer than 300 words. Unsigned letters will not be printed, but names may be withheld upon worthy request. All letters are subject to editing for length and good taste. Mailing address: The Norwich Guidon, Communications Center, Norwich University, Northfield, VT 056632. www.norwich.edu/guidon. If you have any questions or comments about the paper, please contact Professor Ken Bush at kbush@norwich.edu.