Unofficial BU women’s ice hockey team finds competition outside BU Club Sports

At a varsity level, both the Boston University men’s and women’s ice hockey programs have a storied history: The men’s team has won five national titles, and the women’s team has been to the NCAA Tournament for the past five seasons.

Given the prominence and popularity of hockey in the BU community, one College of Arts and Sciences junior, Emily LaFond, was surprised to discover that BU lacked a women’s ice hockey team at the club level when she transferred from Villanova University in Fall 2013.

“I wasn’t ready to stop my career playing hockey,” she said.

LaFond took matters into her own hands and started to form a women’s ice hockey team. She said club sports are an important outlet for athletes who love the sport, but still want a little more freedom.

“I thought the club level is a great way to continue playing hockey without having it be your entire college experience,” she said. “You can still hang out with friends and get the social part of it, but you can still play the game at a competitive level without it taking over your life.”

She recruited team members through social media and reserved a table at the George Sherman Union to promote the team. Through her actions and word of mouth, more than 40 interested women signed up last fall.

LaFond first attempted to apply for recognition through BU Club Sports in November 2013, before the season began, but her request was denied.

“I went to them first before we started the season, saying ‘I want to start a team, what do I have to do to make that happen?’ And they told us … ‘At this time, we’re not looking to take on a women’s club team.’”

Of more than 30 club teams at BU, just six are exclusive to women. According to the BU Club Sports website, facility and resource availability places limits on which teams can be approved.

“Please be aware that based on our limited resources, we are generally not able to take on a sport at first request,” the Club Sports Proposal Guidelines states. “It is however important for us to hear regularly from interested students to best gauge the desire for any one particular sport.”

BU Club Sports could not be reached for comment.

Last year, the team finished with a 4-4 record. The team even has two USA Hockey-certified Level 4 coaches, head coach Jim Pascarelli and assistant Paul LaFond — Emily’s father. With this information to build her case, LaFond again approached BU Club Sports in April.

“I went again to them after our season wrapped up and just kind of gave them an update of where we were,” LaFond said. “Keep them updated and to let them know we have legitimacy. We have a committed number of people, and we have two coaches, qualified coaches. We really want the funding and to have more opportunities to play teams all throughout New England.”

That request was also denied. But the squad still plays as an “independent” team and competes with colleges in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

“We aren’t ‘Boston University.’ We’re a group of girls from Boston University,” is how LaFond explains the situation to teams from other schools.

They practice once a week at the Daly Rink in Newton, and they carpool to get there. On weekends, they play teams within the Independent Women’s Club Hockey League, which includes squads from schools such as Boston College, the University of Massachusetts Lowell, Salem State University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Of the 12 teams within the IWCHL, BU is only one of the teams not recognized as club teams by their respective universities. The women’s club hockey team at University of New Hampshire is also looking for university recognition.

Without the support of the university, LaFond and her teammates have to take funding into their own hands. They recently held a bake sale and also charge a $350 participation fee. The players on the team are required to provide their own equipment and cover travel fees.

“We don’t have any funding for vans,” LaFond said. “That’s probably our biggest struggle, just getting to and from our games without any transportation through the school. So we carpool. Fortunately, our coach comes in. He travels from Hanover, and a couple of the girls on the team have cars. We really rely on ourselves to get to and from both games and practices.”

But despite the team’s limited resources, LaFond said the experience has been a valuable one.

“Hockey is just all about building a team and building chemistry,” she said. “We’re all able to share in a sport that we all love to play, and for me, I think the biggest thing is making lasting friendships. That’s what I get most out of playing club sports, and that’s the beauty of club sports.”

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story said that BU is the only team in IWCHL without university recognition. The story has been edited to reflect this change.