‘The time is right now’: Michigan regent Denise Ilitch confident in adding NCAA women’s hockey
It isn’t every day that someone in a position of power is willing to push a cause into the limelight.
However, that happened when University of Michigan regent Denise Ilitch asked the school to perform a feasibility study to determine whether Ann Arbor could house an NCAA Division-I women’s ice hockey program.
Ilitch says a combination of factors, including the progression of the women’s club hockey team, pushed her to publicly announce the idea.
“I was very interested in the [ACHA] women’s hockey program,” Ilitch explained. “I wanted to help them…so I reached out to [head coach Jenna Trubiano], and we started meeting.”
Ilitch made the motion at a Board of Regents meeting back in March, which was met with a positive response from university donors, fellow regents and U-of-M president Santa Ono.
“I went through all the reasons why I thought we were ready to do this. I had not even discussed it with my colleagues. I was pleasantly surprised two other regents spoke up–regent [Michael A.] Behm and regent [Jordan] Acker–and supported what I had said. The reaction was just astonishing because I had donors call me and say, ‘What can we do to help you with this initiative?'”
The feasibility study is just getting started and is being led by Collegiate Sports Associates, a consulting and research firm based in Raleigh, North Carolina, with the assistance of College Hockey Inc. The study will explore the costs of fielding a team—scholarships, travel, facilities, and coaches’ salaries, among other things—and Title IX implications.
It is easy to see why Ilitch would be passionate about the game. Her father, Mike Ilitch, purchased the Detroit Red Wings in 1982, with his wife Marian working as co-owner. Denise and her siblings came to work for their parents, trying to boost season ticket sales for the struggling franchise. Denise was also an alternate governor for the franchise in the early 2000s.
The school will have to overcome a few hurdles to add the program, most notably where to put the team. While Yost Ice Arena is one of the most historic buildings in hockey, its size inhibits the construction of proper amenities for a new team to complement the already established men’s program.
“I think it gets down to ice. I think that will be the biggest question,” Ilitch pointed out. “Where will the team play, and what will it cost in order for them to play? There are lots of options that are being considered, and I think the feasibility study will really rinse that out and look at all the different options of what that might cost.”
Ilitch has approached the topic of bringing a women’s hockey team to her alma mater in the past, but has always been shot down by the notion that adding the program would be too expensive. There is some truth to that, as travel expenses pile up for teams in the Midwest that have to make multiple trips to Minnesota and Wisconsin, let alone national showcases and tournaments.
According to data submitted by Ohio State to the NCAA, the school accounted for $3,352,519 in expenses for its women’s hockey team last year. The program generated $224,247 in total revenue, sixth among the Columbus university’s women’s programs.
However, those numbers do not deter Ilitch’s idea that a team at Michigan can work, especially after being present when the Professional Women’s Hockey League hosted one of its Takeover games at Little Caesars Arena back in March.
“I started learning that really good players, leading scorers, were forced to leave Michigan and go to other schools. I decided that I was tired of being told ‘no.’ I guess it goes back to my parents’ perseverance. So, I just decided that I needed to go public with what needed to be done.”
Last season, 45 players from the state of Michigan played at the NCAA D-I level, fourth-most behind Minnesota, Massachusetts and New York. Among those three states, there are 20 D-I women’s hockey teams, while Michigan still holds a goose egg. Kirsten Simms, the nation’s leading scorer and Patty Kazmaier Award finalist, is from Plymouth, just a short drive from Ann Arbor.
The state once had a women’s D-I program, with Detroit-based Wayne State University playing from 1999 to 2011. However, it was cut due to a lack of state funding. Currently, the only varsity women’s program in the state is at Adrian College, an NCAA D-III school.
Speaking of Ohio State, Ilitch was asked about her peers’ feelings seeing the Buckeyes win back-to-back national championships in a sport Michigan doesn’t even compete in. She says they take it personally.
“If you had listened to the board meeting, I said, ‘Seriously? Ohio State?’ Regent Behm said the same thing. We think we should be in, we should be playing, we should be there. We should be competing…there’s no reason we shouldn’t be competing and beating Ohio State.”
Ilitch says the feasibility study will be completed by early to mid-fall. At that point, the regents and athletic department will meet to determine whether adding the one thing missing from the hockey-crazed state is possible.
Ilitch admits that while there are schools with men’s hockey programs like Michigan State and Western Michigan, multiple factors point toward Michigan being the best option to reintroduce D-I women’s hockey to the Mitten.
“I think that it’s proven itself by almost 30 years as a club spot,” Ilitch said. “A lot of women have come through the Little Caesars [youth hockey] programs and have played with Jenna. I think it has shown that it’s got what I would call legs. It’s not something that’s brand new. The tradition of hockey in the state of Michigan, I think it’s our DNA. I think there’s a demand in Ann Arbor, at Michigan, for it. I think we, as a university, can afford it. For Michigan, the time is right now.”
Despite the potential financial cost of adding another program in Ann Arbor, Ilitch feels good about it based on her initial research and previous conversations.
“I am anticipating that we’re going to move forward and decide as an institution what the best option is to introduce the program.”