Danny Martin, a sports writer for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, has a story that has added a bit more insight to the decision to not admit the University of Alabama-Huntsville as a member of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.
Here is an excerpt from Martin's story in which he interviewed University Alaska Athletic Director Forrest Karr:
Karr said a lot of criteria were discussed Tuesday about Alabama-Huntsville’s application. He and other council members visited Huntsville earlier this summer, particularly the UAH campus and the Chargers’ home arena.
“Some people had concerns about a lack of commitment, a firm agreement with the facility down there and low attendance in recent years,” Karr said by cell phone during a layover at Detroit Metro Airport. The council meeting took place in nearby Dearborn, Mich.
Alabama-Huntsville averaged 2,688 fans in 10 home games last season in the Von Braun Center, which seats 6,602 for hockey.
The other concerns, Karr said, included “the institution not being in a major recruiting market, the general economic climate across the country and the student-athlete welfare (of other CCHA schools) because of missed class time due to long bus trips.”
He also said, “I hope this is not a death sentence for them, and I hope this is not the end of their program. The last thing anyone wants to see is the loss of any Division I college hockey program.”
Some of the concerns seem valid.
Facilities and attendance are reasonable concerns.
Losing UNO and denying UAH does eliminate one long road trip for CCHA teams. In these challenging economic time, organizations should be more concerned about the expenses of long road trips. So, this is a concern that is not so easily dismissed. If the CCHA expands in the future (should a more attractive program that is far away become an option), we will see if the missed class time argument holds up.
Attendance is an interesting issue since some current CCHA teams are struggling with their attendance numbers. There are Division I schools around the country that would love to have that attendance average (2,688) Martin cites.
I think we all hope this is not the end of the road for UAH in college hockey. It doesn't seem the sport can afford to continue losing programs (like Findlay and Wayne State).
UPDATE: Some at Alabama-Huntsville are upset with the CCHA and disputing some of the claims made to deny UAH's bid to join the CCHA:
This is from the Huntsville Times:
http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/local.ssf?/base/news/1250068529197630.xml&coll=1&thispage=2
http://ciskie.blogspot.com/2009/08/around-dial-huntsville-rejected.html
Another blogger:
http://www.yostbuilt.com/2009/08/ccha-denies-alabama-huntsville.html
Sleepless in Michigan:
http://www.yostbuilt.com/2009/08/ccha-denies-alabama-huntsville.html
On the other hand, on some message boards it seems some fans of the CCHA are happy at the prospect of not adding another long road trip to the schedule.
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