WCHA women’s conference ‘asking for financial help’ for tournament costs, postgraduate scholarships, other initiatives

The women's WCHA is launching a partnership with RallyMe on a state-of-the art "crowdfunding platform," according to a press release sent out Thursday.

While common for individual institutions and teams, according to the release, the WCHA is believed to be among the first – if not the first – NCAA Division I conference to use crowdsourcing to help raise funds for items such as tournament costs, postgraduate scholarships and other initiatives aimed at enhancing the student-athlete experience.

"The WCHA women's league has long stood as the nation's premier conference, and now we want to do more for our amazing student-athletes and programs, but need some help to do it," said WCHA women's commissioner Katie Million in a statement. "The unparalleled on-ice successes of the WCHA women's league – which includes 16 national championships in 18 years, seven Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winners, 95 All-Americans, 67 Olympians and counting, and many more national team members – are all well-known and poised to continue. What many people don't know, however, is that the WCHA operates as a 501(c)3 nonprofit and, because of that, offers unique opportunities through tax-deductible donations to make positive, tangible impacts on our current student-athletes and the generations to follow.

"Our WCHA alumni are gold medalists and CEOs; they are professional hockey players and small-business owners; they are role models and true inspirations. In this era of being bold for change, we are asking for financial help to make the best league in women's college hockey even better. We are honored to partner with RallyMe – a leading platform for online athletic fundraising – to further strengthen the WCHA, its role in the sport and its impact on the lives of women who are leaders and champions on and off the ice."

This is all on the heels of North Dakota shutting down its women's program earlier this offseason.

Source: WCHA women's conference 'asking for financial help' for tournament costs, postgraduate scholarships, other initiatives