Hockey to be discontinued in 2017
Hudson Valley has decided to close its doors on the Hockey program upon the conclusion of the 2017 spring semester. The decision came through a board meeting after the school re-examined the NJCAA’s policy on fielding a sports league.
Right now there are six teams in the nation that are apart of the NJCAA, which is two below the minimum of eight teams leagues need in order to operate. There are only three other teams in the northeast that the Vikings can play against, and the school’s decision to disband the hockey team is a preemptive decision before the league folds as a whole.
In a statement released to the Campus Chronicle on Oct. 1, Hudson Valley athletic director Kristan Pelletier said, “As a result of declining participation at the NJCAA level, Hudson Valley Community College will discontinue its sponsorship of ice hockey as a college-sanctioned sport, effective June 1, 2017. Our current student-athletes will have full support of our Athletic Department and the opportunity to compete throughout the 2015-16 and 2016-17 academic years, pending continued NJCAA sponsorship of the sport.”
Some speculate that this decision might be one of the first to shake up the league and force other schools’ hands to make a similar move.
The Hockey team has been at Hudson Valley since 1991 and is only one of three sports programs here to win a National Championship, which they did in 2001.