Despite Successful Season, Girls Hockey Future Up in the Air

Since becoming a cooperative team four years ago, the Melrose/Watertown girls hockey team hasn’t exactly been a powerhouse in the Middlesex League. For most of that time the Raiders hovered near the bottom of the standings. But that all changed this season, as Melrose/Watertown surged to a 14-3-5 record to finish third in the league and qualify for the Div. 1 North sectional as the 10th seed. 

The Raiders , but would eventually . 

Most teams would look at making the tournament as a good thing, but having such a successful year may prove to be the downfall of the Melrose/Watertown co-op. 

According to MIAA rules, co-op teams are approved for two years and teams must submit a written evaluation of the program if they want to continue it for another two. 

That is exactly what Melrose athletic director Pat Ruggiero and Watertown athletic director  Mike Lahiff are doing now. 

“The first two years we ran it I may have had three kids on the team from Melrose,” Ruggiero said. “There was a slight explosion the next year, but then the numbers declined again and that’s what forced us to go for the additional two years and that’s what is forcing us to ask for two more years.”

Both Ruggiero and Lahiff must present numbers to the Middlesex League to show that after an additional two years, both teams will be able to field their own programs with their own players. 

“We’ve gone back and received numbers for youth hockey all the way back to the third grade,” Ruggiero said. “If everyone stays in Melrose then we will be able to be independent within two years.”

But getting approval may not be easy. Woburn High athletic director and Middlesex League president James Duran is wary of extending the co-op, but said he’s not against seeing the two teams play together for two more years. 

“I don’t think anybody is against Watertown and Melrose having a co-op,” Duran said. “But a co-op is really for two years to see if you can get your program up and running, not to try to sustain two programs by two different cities.

“I would never vote it down,” Duran added. “But it’s a unanimous vote. I would rather have them do a middle school waiver. But if they can’t, I wouldn’t vote it down and say you’re not going to be able to do it.”

Many teams use a middle school waiver to dip into the seventh and eighth grade levels for players. And while it is a common practice among girls hockey teams, Ruggiero said she doesn’t think middle schoolers should be playing alongside high schoolers. 

“We’ve been very clear in Melrose ... we have not wavered on that at all,” Ruggiero said. “One of the reasons is, if you have a seventh or eighth grade girl with a 12th grade girl, there’a a whole different socio-emotional thing going on there. That’s one of the things we’re looking at. We have to decide what’s in the best interest of the child also.”

Ruggiero and Lahiff will present their case some time in April. If passed, the vote would go to District B for approval. District B includes the Middlesex, Greater Boston and Boston City leagues.

If the Middlesex League votes against the co-op, then Ruggiero and Lahiff could appeal the decision to either the district or the MIAA ice hockey committee. If all else fails, then Ruggiero said Melrose will just have to make a go at it by themselves. 

But while Duran insists he’s not against the teams, he does believe continuing on with the co-op program will hurt them in the future. 

“It’s going to come back and haunt Melrose and Watertown some time,” said Duran. “You can’t keep going on with a co-op because somebody is going to decline and you’re going to get stuck with kids three or for years into the program and their senior year say, ‘OK, we’re not going to have a program.’”

Despite this, Ruggiero is confident she can get approval for another two years and is adamant that both Melrose and Watertown will be able to play on their own after that. 

“I have the numbers to prove that I can be independent,” said Ruggiero. “If everyone stays, I have the ability to go independent in two years.”