Notre Dame’s hockey program has received recent attention in head coach Brock Sheahan’s first season, but Notre Dame has limited itself by only having a men’s team. Notre Dame has had a men’s Division I hockey program since 1968, but it has never had a varsity women’s team.
The Notre Dame women’s club hockey team has been on and off for a decade, with its 2025-2026 season being one of the most active in recent memory. The club hockey program is a wonderful opportunity; however, the Notre Dame Athletic Department should follow the direction of other local schools and instill a varsity women’s program.
The men’s program competes in the Big Ten, among fierce competitors such as Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin, among others. The women’s programs at the very same schools compete in the Western Collegiate Hockey Conference. The WCHA is a Division I conference based in the Midwest, and would be the most reasonable fit for Notre Dame’s program. Just like the men’s team, they would face Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio State, among other Midwestern schools.
Other conferences include Atlantic Hockey America, where Mercyhurst, Penn State and Robert Morris play. The men’s team played each of these teams last season, and the women’s program could follow suit. Another viable option for nonconference competitors would be those in ECAC Hockey, mostly Ivy League programs. Hockey East, located in the Northeast, and the NEWHA are two other leagues home to fierce competitors.
Among the five Division I conferences mostly located in the Northeast, 45 schools have a women’s program, signifying no shortage of competitors and conferences to join.
When talk begins of adding a new sport to a university’s athletic department, immediately questions are raised concerning Title IX logistics. The law states that there must be an equal number of men’s and women’s varsity sports at an institution. If Notre Dame were to add women’s hockey, it would also have to add a men’s sport. An easy choice would be men’s rowing, for Notre Dame already has a championship-winning women’s team and an active men’s team at the club level.
Women’s hockey is also growing at a rapid pace in the United States. With the establishment of the PWHL in 2024, the league has seen unprecedented attendance despite concerns from critics. With Team USA’s gold medal at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympics, USA Hockey reported that it had officially crossed the threshold of 100,000 participants in women’s hockey, just for its organization alone. The head coach for the gold-medal-winning team was Notre Dame alum John Wroblewski ’03, and one of his assistant coaches was Josh Sciba ’07. Their impact was felt in the world of women’s hockey, and if alumni have no issue in supporting women’s hockey, why shouldn’t the University?
Notre Dame would not even be required to build additional facilities for a varsity team. The Compton Family Ice Arena, completed in 2018, holds two sheets of ice: one standard and one Olympic. All Notre Dame would need to do is build two designated locker rooms for the home and visiting teams, a feat easily achieved in a facility as large as Compton.
In the 2025-2026 season, the men’s hockey team went 9-23-5, and of their 18 home games, they sold out 13. If the Irish fans can support a team through consistent years of struggle, they can support a women’s team through hardships and success.
Ella Merritt, a freshman from Appleton, Wis., played hockey all through high school. She was disappointed she would not have the opportunity to play at the varsity level at Notre Dame and instead plays as a forward for the club team.
“Notre Dame is in the perfect position to welcome a women’s varsity team coming off the excitement of women’s hockey winning gold at the Olympics and the rapid growth of women’s hockey nationwide,” Merritt wrote. “Notre Dame [also] has quality facilities and proximity to standout teams such as University of Wisconsin at Madison and Ohio State.”
Notre Dame has the budget, the facility and the crowd to back a women’s team. All it is missing is the willingness to commit to a program that has been consistently overlooked. But in the age of hockey expansion, Notre Dame will surely regret its oversight if it continues.
