From an Indiana Tech press release:
Indiana Tech will bring collegiate hockey to Fort Wayne with the addition of a men’s ice hockey team in fall 2014. The Warriors will play in the American Collegiate Hockey Association.
“This is a great opportunity for us to expand our athletic programs with a sport that has a passionate following in this area,” said Arthur E. Snyder, president of Indiana Tech. “The chance to continue competing in a sport they love can be a great motivator for a student to succeed in college, and there aren’t a lot of options for young hockey players to do that.”
A search for a head coach is under way, and the university will recruit student-athletes for a 40-man roster to begin play in fall 2014. Potential opponents include Davenport University, Lawrence Tech, Aquinas College, Calvin College, and Hope College.
“We’re looking forward to developing partnerships with Canlan Ice Sports, the Fort Wayne Area High School Hockey Association, the Komets, and other hockey organizations in the community,” Snyder said.
The scope of Warrior athletics has grown steadily in recent years. In addition to the new ice hockey team, Indiana Tech programs include band, baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s bowling, coed cheer, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s track and field, women’s volleyball, and wrestling.
Comments
This is great news for the local sports and college community.
I'm guessing they will play at Canlan for the time being. Depending on how well the Indiana Tech team does I wonder if this might (eventually) make IPFW decide to become a collegiate team instead of a club team.
Good Luck and welcome to Fort Wayne.
IPFW plays in the ACHA, which is where Indiana Tech intends to play. A better lead to this story would have been; Indiana Tech will bring another collegiate hockey team to Fort Wayne...". IPFW has, in fact, had significant success in the league. Both IU -Bloomington and Purdue West Lafayette play in the ACHA.
Club sports are not the same as intramural sports. The teams play throughout a multi-state region during the regular season, with regional and national championships in the post-season. It's true that there are no scholarships, and less travel support than a varsity team might get, but these players wear the sweater of their universitiy just like players on an NCAA team, and represent their campus whetever they go.
IPFW will never go varsity because of gender equity rules which Indiana Tech does not have to adhere to.
Title IX applies to both private and public colleges, so I would think both Indiana Tech and IPFW have similar equity issues. Got to believe budget also plays a role.
Neither Purdue WL nor IUB will have teams in the Big 10 Hockey league that's starting this year. For them I am guessing equity is a major issue, though the lack of appropriate ice facilities near Bloomington and West Lafayette, is also important.
I do know that IT has had a lot of success getting players for their sports from out of town. I talked to two lacrosse players who came here from Minnesota to play lacrosse. IPFW has had a program that has and is moving forward. I would think you might get a different type of student as IPFW could be considered a "tougher" school to get into. Hockey in the ACHA is very good at the D1 level in some cases as good NCAA. IT and IPFW are D3 ACHA however that is still a very big step up from Ft Wayne high school. It looks like IT hockey is going to be a part of the school's athletic program. Teams named that they will play are school ran teams that play in a Michiagna based league. IPFW is not a part of the athletic program and is a student ran program like all the clubs at IPFW. I do know that IPFW gets money from the student body as do all the clubs. If IT is looking for a coach that says to me that they are looking for a school ran team and that could be a good thing. I think this should be interesting to see how this all unfolds.
As an employee of Indiana Tech...I am super excited for this coming addition! Lacrosse, soccer, track, tennis and wrestling programs do a lot of out of state and international recruiting for IT...so I am looking forward to seeing what can be made!
IndianaTech will be playing in the same league as IPFW an all CLUB league indiana tech is in no way superior to IPFW's "club team"
Matt, you are kidding yourself if you think Div 1 Club hockey is as good as some NCAA Div 1 teams. Maybe Div 3 programs, and I think that's even a stretch. It's club hockey-sure there are some kids that played juniors in club hockey. But most are just good HS players. NCAA Div 1 players are the top junior players.
Andy, tell me why it is that Penn St (pre D1), Arizona State University, Adrian College, Oakland University, University of Oklahoma and Minot State University just to name a few have played NCAA D1 and D3, USHL Jr and NAHL Jr teams? Did it ever dawn on you that perhaps a player my have a reason for not going to a NCAA D1 school other than not being skilled? Lets say they had NCAA clearing house issues (well if you know what that is), maybe they got caught doing drugs or had a legal problems and no one will give him an offer, maybe they don't have the grades to get in, maybe they know they are not going to make a living at hockey and still want to play so why not go to a warm sunny place to play, maybe they played Canadian Jr and are not NCAA eligible, maybe they want to get a degree at a school that is number 1 in there field and the NCAA schools don't offer that major or are very low on the list, maybe they played in Detroit or Boston from the time they were 14 or 15 and are from TX FL AZ and just wants to play close to home so mom and dad can come to all the games. I however don't know what I am talking about and just made all of this up I guess. I will stop listening to players, coaches and parents and yield to you, Andy the all knowing. Thank you for setting me straight.
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