Episode 22: What Do Coaches Do When The College Cuts Their Program?

On March 29, 2017, the University of North Dakota athletic department announced that due to budget cuts, the women's hockey team, as well as the men's and women's swimming program, was being eliminated. It was shocking to a community that loves hockey. And the program had established itself as one of college women's hockey best programs under the guidance of the coach who helped revive the program, Brian Idalski and his staff of longtime assistant coaches. For many programs, that news would be the end of the story. But in this case, it's not. The team and the coaches quickly decided to try and fight the decision, and save the program. On today's edition of College Recruiting Weekly, we chronicle the inside story of how a coaching staff and their players reacted at the news no college coach wants to hear, how they helped their players through the disappointment, and their plan for saving their program. We also talk to a coach and athletic director at another college who faced the same challenge, and managed to be part of a solution that resulted in saving their campus from closing permanently. There's also an unexpected twist at the end of today's episode. But then again, it's not really the 'end'...or is it? This episode is meant to instruct coaches on the right way to handle a crisis like this, using the outstanding example of Coach Idalski and his staff, as well as the outstanding young athletes on the team. This is their personal story, and we hope that other college coaches can learn from it. You can follow the team's effort to save their program on Twitter by looking for #NeverEndTheFight. The team also has a Facebook page that is making an effort to rally support. You can take action to back the program at https://www.facebook.com/NeverEndTheFightUND/ At the time we are publishing this podcast on April 8, 2017, the final outcome of the effort to save the program was unknown. A special thanks to Coach Brian Idalski, Coach Erik Fabian, Freshman Forward Sara Lecavalier, and Teresa Boylan/Athletic Director at Sweet Briar College. Their willingness to share their story is very much appreciated.