"Here in Michigan, We Have a Big Barrier Up, and I Want to See that Barrier Come Down"

An update on allies Denise Ilitch and Brendan Morrison, the feasibility study, and the push for varsity women's hockey at the University of Michigan

The prospect of Division I women’s hockey in Ann Arbor is as imminent as it has ever been, a feasibility study now underway through the Raleigh-based consulting firm Collegiate Sports Associates.  

The momentum around the present push for varsity status emanates from the club women’s hockey team at the University of Michigan, which has qualified for ACHA Nationals in consecutive seasons under head coach and alumna Jenna Trubiano.  In addition to her duties as coach (which already extended beyond X’s and O’s to arranging for buses or trainers for games), Trubiano is also the de facto leader of the ongoing drive toward DI, in which capacity she has found two powerful allies in the U-M network: regent Denise Ilitch and Brendan Morrison, national champion and Hobey Baker-winning men’s hockey player.

Trubiano forged both connections through the same mutual friend at Little Caesars AAA Hockey Club.  “I connected to Jenna through a coach that I was working with at Little Caesars,” explains Morrison over the phone last week.  “His name is Brandon Kaput.  They had known each other for a few years, and Brandon just flat out asked me one day, ‘Hey, Jenna wants to chat with you about the women’s hockey program,’ and I said absolutely I would.  That was kinda how this all started, my involvement in it.  And just having a daughter that plays hockey and has aspirations of going to college and playing Division I hockey, it was a no brainer to get involved, coupled with the fact that I played at Michigan and had a great experience there.  It just made a lot of sense to be a part of the process.”

Kaput also connected Trubiano and Ilitch in February 2023.  A year later, they were back in touch.  “She had called me after the incident that happened in February of this year in Farmington, just trying to get a better understanding of why is this happening, and I told her part of the reason I feel this is happening is because there’s no [Division I] women’s hockey in Michigan.” Trubiano recounts.  “There’s girl’s hockey, but the best players typically leave the state, and they don’t come back, and they have this broken cycle of no collegiate programs to develop players, to develop future coaches, to develop connections in the community.  It’s very rare to find female head coaches at the youth level.  It’s typically a lot of parents, mostly dads.  

“So I explained how I felt about that to her, and she seemed to really understand it, that broken cycle that I was speaking about,” Trubiano continues.  “And she is in a position to understand what a varsity women’s hockey program would mean to Michigan, what it would mean to the state, what it would mean to hockey—whether that’s the NHL, the PWHL, NCAA hockey all the way down to mini mites—she understands that.  [She’s] another person I’ve been very fortunate to connect with and now have a great relationship with.”

There is a certain shock value in adding two uniquely powerful members of the Michigan community to the movement, but to Trubiano, what stands out more than Ilitch or Morrison’s résumés is the totality with which they have embraced it.

“They’re just two people that really understand what’s going on, and they’re willing to be a conduit in situations and use their network, and I can happily say I’ve developed a friendship with both of them,” she explains of Morrison and Ilitch.  “And I treat it as a friendship, and we have the same goals, and we’re a team, and we want to achieve the goal of varsity women’s hockey at Michigan.  So again, I feel very fortunate to have built this network, which I feel is pretty powerful.”  

When asked about her function moving forward in the push toward varsity women’s hockey, Ilitch says over the phone, “I think I see my role as being an advocate for this program, being a tireless advocate for this program.”  To the same question, Morrison replies, “I'm open to doing anything to be honest with you.  I think maybe I get exposure, just bringing a voice and awareness, reaching out to contacts who I know within the game who have influence or maybe that are on the men's side to try and create a conversation and exposure to the game.  So I am open and willing to do whatever it takes, but more than anything, just be a voice. You know, I believe in it. I think it's a good product. And I think it's the right time to move forward.”

Though the introduction to Trubiano came via the same mutual connection, Morrison and Ilitch had different entry points.  For Morrison, understanding the importance of varsity women’s hockey to the state and University of Michigan emerged from his own experience playing hockey at U of M, paired with a newfound exposure to girls and women’s hockey through his daughter’s career.  “I’ve been fortunate to be a part of [my daughter’s] journey and be involved with other fantastic girls and young women, and they’re not much different than boys,” says Morrison of the opportunity to coach his daughter at Little Caesars, where he had previously coached his son.  “They have dreams.  They work hard.  They put in extra time, and when you see that, you’re like, well why are some opportunities not the same?”

Morrison had passed on the chance to pursue coaching professionally after he retired from playing in 2012 after 14 seasons in the NHL, but he soon fell for coaching his children, and their experience reinforced his belief in the value of sport to young people, regardless of gender.  “I love the interaction with the kids,” Morrison says. “I love these kids. It is growing pains at times, right? I think sports in general—life lessons, sports, accountability, work ethic, you know how to get along with people, adversity, all these things, right?  So you're just being at the rink…and watching girls go through it and just comparing it to boys and it's very similar.”  It only seemed natural that the girls should have the same opportunity to advance their hockey careers that the boys did.

Morrison was in Ann Arbor from 1993 to 1997, as Michigan’s women’s club team took the ice for the first time in 1995.  “We knew that there was a program for sure,” he says, when asked about attitudes toward women’s hockey on campus at the time. “We didn't have a lot of interaction with the girls, unfortunately. I guess looking back, it would have been nice to build maybe a better relationship with them or do some events together, but that never happened…Other Big Ten schools obviously had women's programs, and I think a lot of people that don't really know the minutiae of what's going on, I think they just assume that Michigan has a Division I women’s hockey program.  When you tell people who follow the game or are involved in the game, they just assume that they have one and are just completely shocked when they find out that they don't.”

Morrison recalls that when he was a student, he and his peers took as a given that the fledgling club program would soon progress on to varsity status.  “I think the feeling was kind of ‘okay, they didn't start as a DI program, but okay, at least they're doing something here,’ and the natural progression is to ultimately have a DI program,” he says.  “It’ll just take a few years now, and that’ll take place, but it hasn’t.  And here we are almost 30 years later, and we’re kind of in the same situation.”

Meanwhile, Ilitch grew up in a family that placed a similar premium on sports, hockey in particular, she saw the dedication to girls and women’s hockey via athletes at Little Caesars and the U-M club program, she believed the February incident with Trubiano to be a symptom of the consequences of the absences of DI varsity hockey in her home state, and she arrived at the conclusion that just such a program at Michigan was an opportunity the girls and women of the state deserved.

For Ilitch, born seventeen years before the passage of Title IX, there was a disconnect in the attitude toward girls playing sports within her family and beyond it.  “Sports were highly valued, and I never experienced any kind of gender bias within my family with respect to sports,” she explains. “My sister played hockey. I tried it once and it was a disaster, but certainly I feel very strongly in being an advocate for young girls and women to have every opportunity to play the sport of hockey and to have the opportunity for their ability and talent right. And for them to go as far as they can go. And here in Michigan, we have a big barrier up and I want to see that barrier come down.”   Even in a sports mad family with a sister who played, Ilitch explains that playing herself “was never as much on my radar” because “it just wasn't encouraged” at any sort of large scale at the time.

“I think when I was younger and watching it, you know observing girls playing hockey, it seemed a little novel to me,” Ilitch recalls.  “But it was more about learning growing up the value that there should be no gender discrimination, that every opportunity that is afforded to boys can also be afforded to girls.  And so that was a message that my parents sent probably without even realizing it, that we were sponsoring girls hockey very early on. And then of course, my answer would be the same as time went on and as I became older and had different roles around sports. I started to learn how important that was, as well.  When I worked at the family business, I worked with the Detroit Red Wings, I was an alternate governor for a length of time, and that gave me another perspective as well. I don't think there were any women in the room when I was alternate governor…and so that was a message for whatever that is, and I received a lot of messages over time. And I think that's what has contributed to how strong and passionate I feel about this particular project.”

For Ilitch, becoming familiar with the Little Caesars AAA program and later Trubiano’s Wolverines combined to affirm the dedication of girls and women in Michigan to the sport of hockey.  “Watching the program at Little Caesars, knowing the coaches, knowing some of the players, knowing how much time they're spending playing hockey and traveling all around the world, there is a great demand that continues to be a demand because we've been sponsoring girls hockey Oh my gosh multiple, multiple years, and the need and the desire is still there,” she points out. “And to me that shows the love of the sport, the desire to want to play and the continuing of generations moving up and playing hockey and here we are 2024 with a you know, women's professional hockey league. It's pretty cool.”

Meanwhile, in getting familiar with Michigan’s team in the last two years, what stood out most was the group’s passion for the game, the refusal to allow a slew of inequities to dim their enthusiasm.  “I think what struck me was the talent of the team, of the women, and the commitment, the devotion, and the fact that that team, that women have been skating, even if it's in club hockey form for almost 30 years,” Ilitch says.  “It’s sustainable. It's not as if the team went in and out all the time, and they are amazing players—they've gone to tournaments. The commitment and the talent would be it for me.”  

When you put all that together, you arrive at the clearest source of common ground between Morrison and Ilitch: the belief that the push for women’s varsity hockey at Michigan is not just a good idea but a logical one, a natural progression of work that’s already been done.

When asked why now feels like the right time, Ilitch has a long reply ready: “Well, I think it's kind of a combination of reasons, everything coming together at once, but I had been advocating for a women's hockey team for the last couple of years. And I've always been told, ‘No, it's too expensive.’  I'm the oldest of seven, and my family sponsored amateur sports teams since I can remember, very young, and we always had girls and boys teams.  There was never any kind of deal about gender, and we sponsored women's or girls hockey teams, and we sponsored and continue to sponsor boys hockey teams. And then fast forward in my advocacy, or during my advocacy of wanting a team, I wanted to understand our club hockey team, our women's team, which we've had for almost 30 years…I wanted to understand the business aspect of it—how much it cost to travel and ice time and all of that. And then the women's professional hockey league, they came to [Little Caesars Arena], and we sold 15,000 seats, the attendance, which I thought was incredibly impressive.  And kind of a combination of all that was why I feel we're ready, that it is ready, that we are a state that hockey is in our DNA, the club team’s been around for a long time…I feel the timing is right in order to introduce women's hockey DI at  the University of Michigan.”

To a lifelong advocate of the value of sports to young people, the program’s importance could hardly be clearer: “I think that obviously the qualities that you learn playing a sport or qualities that you take with you the rest of your life,” Ilitch contends.  “At Michigan, we train leaders, and all of the qualities that you learn playing sports and playing hockey will take you to become a better leader.   Whether it's teamwork, whether it's everyone has a role, whether it's learning how to be a team player, following directions, I also wouldn't underestimate the mental health aspects, and I do feel very strongly about that and want to always fund programs in general at Michigan that support our students playing sports, because I think it has strong mental health advantages as well…And women are no different and should be able to have that kind of opportunity.”

Meanwhile, Morrison sees a similar logic in the urgent importance of correcting the state’s “broken cycle.”  “I just look at it as you look at Michigan, obviously with their profile in the state of Michigan, and you look at the number of young women that are playing hockey in the state of Michigan,” he says. “I think it's the fourth largest registration of any state across the US, and you find out that not one university has a Division I program in Michigan, I think it's concerning that right now these great female athletes are leaving the state and going to other schools out of state and playing their careers there.  And then a lot of times I think you lose these girls.”

That his own experience playing hockey at Michigan was so positive and formative only reinforces that urgency.  “I'm a super proud alum of Michigan, not only the school, but obviously of hockey,” Morrison explains.  “And Michigan, it's worldwide, right? Anywhere you go, you see someone wearing Michigan apparel, and you see that real sense of pride and accomplishment of going there. And I was very fortunate to have a tremendous four years for awesome teams and you know, not only athletically what we got out of it, but, but socially and academically.  The combination of what Michigan offers is rivaled by few if any schools, right?  Just the tradition, the history, the alumni network, all of these things are packaged together, and it's tough to be beat. So if we have the ability to give that to a lot more young athletes, then it's a no brainer to have that happen.”

As for the ongoing feasibility study, Ilitch provides an update: “It's being overseen by our athletic department, and it's moving along really nicely. They’re in the interviewing process now. I was a person that was interviewed, along with many others. And it's going great. I'm told that it should be completed by early Fall, early to mid fall. So we're all looking forward to seeing what the results of those of the feasibility study is.”

So far, Ilitch has been overwhelmed by the public response she’s received to her decision in March to take her desire for varsity women’s hockey public via a Board of Regents meeting.  “Jenna kind of predicted it, and it didn't really land with me, but I am astonished—and I shouldn't be because we're Hockeytown—at the level of support, excitement, enthusiasm and passion that people have shown,” she says, her enthusiasm evident in her voice, even through the phone.  “I'm really surprised by it…I've had donors call me, invite me to lunch, and basically say, ‘what do you need?’ And I say, ‘I don't know yet. It's too early.’ We've got to do the feasibility study. But that's kind of amazing. Generally, you go to donors, and so I've loved the excitement of that. And just the hockey world in general, obviously has been incredibly supportive, but people that maybe aren't specifically involved in hockey have also been really supportive, which I have found really, really wonderful.  And also shows the need.  Everyone will have a story: ‘Oh my daughter played’ or ‘I know a coach.’  Hockey has touched everyone’s lives in some way, or many people’s lives in some way, particularly in the state of Michigan.”

Ilitch is optimistic about the results the study will return, but when asked about potential hold ups to the project, she replies, “Well, I think financial resources, I believe that Michigan has the financial resources with which to do this, but with a small asterisk that the future of sports, the most recent ruling in court, and that kind of thing, just kind of the future of NIL and all of that, will have a big impact on our athletic department's budget overall. And so that concerns me a little bit. I don't think it's insurmountable, but answering your question on what would be my biggest concern, that would be it.”

She adds that the question she’s most interested in seeing resolved by the study concerns ice: As she puts it, “Where will we skate and what does that look like?”  Ilitch believes there are benefits to either re-modeling Yost so that it is suited to housing a second program and also to building a dedicated women’s hockey facility.  

“I really want to wait for the feasibility study [before expressing a preference for either option,” Ilitch explains.  “I think there are advantages to both. Obviously Yost is so is one of the last wonderful rinks.  It reminds me of Olympia Stadium, the excitement and the tradition of Yost, but I'm really open minded and just ready to hear what they find.  They’re not even really gonna make a recommendation, so I don’t want to say that.  It’s really a statement of facts and costs.  That’s kind of what I’m expecting, but I have a lot of confidence in CSA to be able to do a sport sponsorship analysis.  And then I know the NHL is involved too, with College Hockey Inc, partnering with them, and that gives me a lot of confidence too because they understand the game, and they understand growing the game and what that takes.”

It’s no surprise that Ilitch’s focus is on ice, as facilities have always been the explanation or excuse offered as to why Michigan doesn’t already offer varsity women’s hockey.  Once the study comes out, that obstacle will have a clear dollar figure attached to overcoming it.  To Morrison, that’s perhaps the most exciting part of the process to develop yet.

“I think the feasibility study—It's real now, right? Before it was just a bunch of talk,” Morrison says.  “Can we do this? Can we do that? All these hypotheticals about what's happening.  But now the feasibility study is actually taking place, so we're going to have answers, we’re gonna have recommendations, you're going to have people doing their studies who’ve done it for other schools, we have a lot of comparables, right? We're going to see numbers from other Big Ten schools and what their budgets are, and  how does it fit in? So when you start getting into that type of information, and you're looking at it, it's become real.  It’s become real now.”

Ilitch, however, is a step or three ahead of Morrison in her ambitions.  When asked what has her most excited about the progress she, Morrison, Trubiano, and company have already made, she declares, “I’m most excited about having a D1 women’s team.  I’m excited about competing with the other schools.  I’d love to beat Ohio State. They’re the national champions.  And I’m super excited about the opportunity [the program] is going to provide.

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