WNEU preparing for inaugural Women’s Ice Hockey season

Feb. 12, 2020 | Dennis Hackett

SPRINGFIELD – After years of research and preparation, Western New England University is in the final stages of putting together its women’s ice hockey team in its inaugural season which kicks off in October of 2020.

Matt LaBranche, Western New England’s Athletic Director and former baseball coach, explained that the multi-year process to bring a women’s ice hockey team to the school predates his time at the university. “In the five year window I was away when the conversation really started with the previous regime in terms of adding opportunities for women on campus, so a lot of the homework, research and conversations happened before my arrival,” he said.

Once he stepped in as athletic director in 2018, it was time to make a decision about adding a women’s hockey team to the school’s athletic offerings, and he said he was ready for it. LaBranche said, “I came in with a specific interest in looking to expand women’s athletics and making more opportunities for women on campus because women’s ice hockey will be our 20th sport and will balance the ledger so we’ll have 10 men’s sports and 10 women’s sports now, so it all came together nicely.”

When deciding on ice hockey as the new women’s sport to bring to campus, LaBranche said there were three different factors. “It comes from a desire to create more opportunities for women, then identifying a growing sport so there will be women looking for places to play, and then identifying a sport that fits into the general profile of a Western New England University student,” he said.

He said that bringing a new sport to campus offers a unique set of challenges. “It requires resources to start from the ground up, it requires a special coach because they have to recruit a team from scratch, it also takes a lot of communication from the department to the rest of campus to explain why it’s valuable to the University,” he explained.

LaBranche said one of the challenges resolved itself quickly when they found their head coach, Katie Zimmerman. "She's very bright, energetic with the passion and vision we’re looking for to lead our program,” he said. “What was even better was that she knew we were in discussion and planning for the program and she’s been interested since its inception.”

He added, “She did her homework and had her eye on this place as a place she wanted to be the first head coach, it was nice to have that kind of investment on her end and we’re fortunate to have her.”

One of the unique hurdles inadding a women’s ice hockey team is the fact that Western New England’s conference, the Commonwealth Coast Conference, does not currently sponsor women’s hockey.

“By virtue of us adding a team in conjunction with other new members to the league, we’re actually contributing to creating women’s ice hockey as a league-sponsored sport, so it has the added benefit of bolstering our league at large,” LaBranche said.

He added that the team was initially scheduled to play in a different league but because other schools in the conference added teams, they are able to play in their own league.

Right now, the goal for the team is to have a full, healthy and competitive roster so they can play when their first game rolls around on Oct. 30. “To field a healthy roster and to compete effectively in our league is step one,” Labranche said.

He explained that the school is aiming to have 20 to 25 players on the roster by the start of the season. “Right now we’re on target for our goal, but realistically we may not have 20 in year one, we may be just shy of that. It would be a successful first year if we had 20 fresh faces on campus playing women’s ice hockey next year.”

LaBranche added that he is looking forward to having two hockey teams on campus. “It’ll be exciting to have two teams when we go to the rink at Olympia in West Springfield. I think it’ll create some new energy at that venue and some new ways to market ice hockey within our program,” he said.

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