UND women’s hockey cut in irresponsible manner

Many were taken by surprise after the University of North Dakota cut the women’s hockey team. The public was not only astonished by the actions of the administration, but as well as players, coaches and recruits of the team. Known for their many players that have made it to the U.S. national team, the elimination of the program has been not only emotionally difficult, but also difficult for those who had made plans to play for the school starting in 2017.

UND was under pressure with large amounts of debt, leading to the cut. Mark Kennedy, president of UND, stated that the athletic department needed to decrease spending by $1.3 million. Not only was women’s hockey cut, but also men’s and women’s swimming, which as a total adds up to about $3 million, well over the proposed cut. The remaining $1.7 million will be used towards educational scholarships.

The decision has been extremely hard on those who had decided to play for the team during the 2017-18 school year. Most D1 and D2 colleges have filled their roster, making it difficult to find a team to play on that will allow them to use their skills to their full potential. Women’s hockey differs from men’s because there is not a juniors program where they can continue to grow their skills, without going to college. The best option for most is to play D3, but those schools do not offer scholarships.

According to SI.com, Monique Lamoureux-Morando, volunteer assistant coach for the team said, “As for those currently on the team, players and coaches found out about the cut via social media during practice. Players with scholarships will continue to receive them until they graduate.”

According to SI.com, Head Coach, Brian Idalski said, “Obviously, you’re a little concerned [when you know budget cuts are coming] and you’re wondering what direction but everything kept going. I booked all my recruit travel for the month of April, I booked [recruit] visits. I had budget meetings with university officials the day before were were cut; I had a meeting with the AD talking about assistant coach contracts the week before. There really was no inkling that this was coming.”

Some may argue that the decision to cut the team will decrease the large budget that UND has, making them able to give more money towards educational scholarships.

A better solution to the schools debt issue would have been to make smaller budgets for every sport team, rather than cutting a program with so much potential. The school should have also given a warning before the spring so those who were planning to play next year could come up with a second option.