I’m sure it’s just a typo or the writer misunderstood
http://www.fortsaskatchewanrecord.com/2016/11/17/former-hawk-flying-high-in-us
None of this is “NEW” news. Sounds like somebody is upset there program doesn’t offer big scholarships. Just saying.
Let that tiny school do its thing.
I don’t envy the ACHA guys that have to regulate this stuff and/or have to explain this to another D2 coach that can’t offer “big scholarships”.
Is the ACHA going to ever crack down on this?
You guys are still discussing this. Cmon already.
Worry about the junior colleges playing Acha. The reason most kids attend Juco is because they can’t get into the 4 year schools academically. Aren’t they “CHEATERS”. Hello Williston State which also gives “BIG SCHOLARSHIPS”
Folks,
I hesitate to enter this discussion, and won’t address specifics. Furthermore, using derogatory terms such as “cheaters”, is not professional, nor productive.
The ACHA has a set of rules, by-laws, and policy procedures that all must follow. We investigate all potential violations of our rule set. There are an extremely wide variety of universities across the nation, and just as many ways to organize, operate, and fund a club hockey program. Paid coaches, fully funded programs, international grants, academic grants, activities grants, rinks of campus, etc. Then there are university programs that provide absolutely no funding and require 2.5 GPA to participate in club activities. Then there is the question of tuition - some universities cost less than $10K for the year, others more than $80K (What difference does a $10K grant make to a university that charges $80K?). There are ACHA teams that do not have any international students. Of course, then there is the incredible diversity in admission requirements/standards. Should all our teams require the same standards as a Duke or Ivy League team? Then consider size of the student body - Bryn Athen with 300 students compared to a Big Ten University with more than 60K students to draw from. Then consider geography - the northern universities, particularly those in and around the 3M states have a tremendous recruiting advantage. And on and on and on.
Permit me to use an NCAA football analogy - does anyone think that certain perennial power houses play by the same rulebook as my alma mater, the Naval Academy? Yet the Navy fields a D1 team every year knowing it will probably not be able to compete with the top 25 teams in the nation. There will always be inherent strengths and minuses to each program and we cherish those games where Navy football can pull the big upset over Notre Dame (with apologies to the class act that is the Notre Dame football program). There is an inherent pride in simple act of competing with those programs.
We in the ACHA want to bring this collegiate hockey experience to as many student-athletes who play the game as possible. We have a rule set we have been operating by for 26 years. We will continue to tweek and edit the rule set as we encounter biases or to close loopholes that might provide an unfair advantage where we are able. My goal would be to see every ACHA team have the financial and organizational support from many of the universities you are citing as cheaters - that would clearly make the ACHA stronger.
The ACHA is also forever changing and morphing - it has not been, nor will it ever be static. So the claims that might be asserted today may not be relevant five years from now. For instance, many of these teams belong to NAIA universities, which next year will establish their own division with 6 NAIA teams. In the out years, they hope to attract all NAIA teams to participate under their own rule sets and eventually create an NAIA Varsity Hockey Division complete with scholarships. These teams, like their NCAA counterparts will continue to have additional university teams that will participate in the ACHA as well.
And my final comment to this string will be a few quotes from Herb Brooks (who never complained that his collective group of college amateurs were up against a paid professional team):
“Everybody wants to change the world, but they don’t want to change themselves. So we all have to change our thinking and focus on getting our kids better.”
“You win with people, not with talent. So the quality of the people is very important in building your team. I always looked for people with a solid value system.”
“Success is won by those who believe in winning and then prepare for that moment. Many want to win, but how many prepare? That is the big difference.”
“[No team] has enough talent to win on talent alone.”
Coaching will always be the most important aspect of a team’s success.
Keep the feedback coming - we don’t have all the answers and some of your suggestions/feedback/criticism will bring about positive change for all our members. I would just ask, as does the site owner, to keep the discourse respectful and productive.
Thank y’all for permitting me to be a bit long winded - S
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Since I’m a lazy bastard, I’ll just link to what I said back at the end of last season… where I said I that since I was a lazy bastard, I’d just copy/paste what I said back in 2014:
Thanks FB, I’ll follow your example and keep my responses on file for future use. While I’ve been with the ACHA for almost a decade, I’ve been somewhat insulated, though not oblivious to this argument. Working with 13 ACC M2 teams who might be handicapped by extremely high entrance academic standards, less than 10K student bodies, demanding academics (some require a 2.5 GPA to participate in club sports), minimal funding from their university, volunteer coaches, and geographically far from any youth hockey populations, I discovered coaches and student-athletes who cherished the opportunity just to compete each weekend wearing their university logo and colors. Not one, in more than 20 years of the conference history went to the ACHA post-season until last season. Despite all those circumstances, and being lunched on occasion by Big 10 teams (who enjoy a student population well over 50K), or programs far more funded, I never heard a complaint that the ACHA was being unfair or accusations of cheating. They were appreciative the ACHA and the ACCHL provided an opportunity to continue to participate in a sport that’s in their blood, and at the university they attend. For them, a last chance to play competitive, professional, organized hockey, and a conference championship of similar teams from like universities. I believe that is what the ACHA is providing to the vast majority of it’s members. To those programs who aspire to a successful post-season, I would recommend looking at the past national champions - well organized, phenomenal support from their university, tremendous time and effort commitment in recruiting, and probably the most important, exceptional coaching and locker room leadership. S
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I think the Sheriff has stated it extremely well for all to see that steps are being taken to help address the nearly impossible task of finding proper balance between programs, regions and divisions. There’s no need to continue to flog this horse. 
The BoardBoss