WSU Hockey Player Fighting To Save Team
DETROIT (WWJ) - Wayne State University women's hockey player Ciara Lee is pleading her case Wednesday to bring back the school's women's hockey team.
Assistant team captain for the Warriors, Lee is being given a chance to address the school's Board of Governors. She hopes to get her hockey team reinstated after it was a victim of budget cuts in May.
WSU disbanded the team without warning. Lee, a senior at WSU, said when the school axed the men's team in 2008, they got a year's notice and a chance to earn a spot on another school's roster.
"In terms of fair and equal opportunities, the way that the men's program was handled, in comparison to ours, is undeniable that they have been given a lot more respect than our program has," said Lee.
Lee said underclassmen are having trouble finding a spot on another team.
"There is nowhere to go right now, like hard to play Division One somewhere else? There are no spots," said Lee. "Our biggest class, our seniors, have one more year. It will be unbelievable just to can't be able to finish all of our senior years."
Team captain, senior Alyssa Baldin, said she wanted to finish her career in a Warriors jersey because of the team's hard work on, and off, the ice.
"As a team, we've done so many community service hours," Baldwin said. "We've totaled approximately 2,500 hours in the past two years. And our team GPA has increased and is now one of the highest of all the teams at Wayne State. So, to me, those aren't the qualities of a team that deserves to be cut."
Lee said attorneys are looking at whether the cut broke the gender guidelines of Title-Nine, which turns forty-years-old on Thursday. The school is honoring players' scholarships, but said state funding cuts and high operating expenses left them no choice.
A Facebook campaign was created in May to help save the women's team. Stay with WWJ Newsradio 950 and CBS Detroit.com for the latest.
