At St. Cloud State University, one of the seven schools in the new Western Collegiate Hockey Association women's league, there are 10 athletic scholarships available to women this season. Amanda Presenger of Thunder Bay, Ont., and Fiona McLeod of Toronto are on her team. The Eastern Collegiate Athletic Association has a 20-team women's league this year.
Expansion also means luring top coaches.
Paul Flanagan, head coach at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y., has 13 players, including 10 Canadians, on athletic scholarships. It's really going to explode. A youth team from Cornwall, Ont., visited St. Lawrence on Friday. Teams from Ottawa and Toronto were due in today. We're knocking heads with Minnesota, Ohio State and Wisconsin and all the Ivy League schools.