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BY MIKE FERMOYLE
Pioneer Press
A legal battle that began almost two years ago was resolved Tuesday when the Minnesota State High School League and the Xcel Energy Center announced an agreement to bring the girls state hockey tournament to the St. Paul arena in 2006.
The move was part of a sweeping agreement between the high school league and Minnesota Sports and Entertainment, the parent company of the Xcel Center and the Minnesota Wild franchise, which will now oversee the marketing, sponsorship and paid advertising for all MSHSL athletics and fine arts tournaments.
"The league has always looked for ways to grow our tournament attendance," league executive director Dave Stead said. "The Xcel Center's reputation as the centerpiece of hockey in Minnesota and the Wild's expertise in marketing will allow more people to become aware of and take advantage of tournaments throughout the year."
The agreement comes partly as a result of a lawsuit prepared in September 2002 on behalf of four female hockey players, a number that grew to 11. The suit, filed in 2003, came in response to the high school league's decision to move the girls hockey tournament from the State Fairgrounds Coliseum to the University of Minnesota's Ridder Arena, rather than to the Xcel.
Ridder Arena, built for the Minnesota women's hockey team, is widely considered a state-of-the-art facility, complete with training rooms. But the plaintiffs argued that its modest size would stunt the growth of the girls tournament.
Ridder's seating is roughly 3,000, fewer than the 5,200 of the Coliseum and substantially fewer than the nearly 18,000 at the Xcel Center, where the boys tournament has been played since 2000.
Aldrich Arena, seating 3,400, was the site of the first girls hockey tournament sponsored by the league in 1995, but the building was considered too small and the tournament was moved to the Coliseum the next year.
The Coliseum was not designed for hockey, and no seats are within 15 feet of the ice.
In 2000, a discrimination complaint was filed with the U.S. Office for Civil Rights, claiming that the MSHSL was in violation Title IX, the federal law mandating equal opportunities regardless of gender. The complaint charged that the league was holding the girls tournament at a facility inferior to where the boys tournament was played.
High school league administrators hoped Ridder Arena would solve the problem. Original plans for Ridder called for roughly 4,500 seats, but the plans were scaled back.
The Xcel Energy Center is the site of the state volleyball, dance team and wrestling tournaments, and the state gymnastics meet is held next door in Roy Wilkins Auditorium.
A move by the plaintiffs to force the league to move the tournament to the Xcel Center this year failed in December 2003. U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson rejected a request for a temporary restraining order, in part because moving the girls hockey tournament to the Xcel in February 2004 would have created a conflict with the dance tournament, scheduled for the same weekend.
The high school league asked for a summary judgment to dismiss the lawsuit, but District Judge John Tunheim denied that motion July 15.
Pioneer Press
A legal battle that began almost two years ago was resolved Tuesday when the Minnesota State High School League and the Xcel Energy Center announced an agreement to bring the girls state hockey tournament to the St. Paul arena in 2006.
The move was part of a sweeping agreement between the high school league and Minnesota Sports and Entertainment, the parent company of the Xcel Center and the Minnesota Wild franchise, which will now oversee the marketing, sponsorship and paid advertising for all MSHSL athletics and fine arts tournaments.
"The league has always looked for ways to grow our tournament attendance," league executive director Dave Stead said. "The Xcel Center's reputation as the centerpiece of hockey in Minnesota and the Wild's expertise in marketing will allow more people to become aware of and take advantage of tournaments throughout the year."
The agreement comes partly as a result of a lawsuit prepared in September 2002 on behalf of four female hockey players, a number that grew to 11. The suit, filed in 2003, came in response to the high school league's decision to move the girls hockey tournament from the State Fairgrounds Coliseum to the University of Minnesota's Ridder Arena, rather than to the Xcel.
Ridder Arena, built for the Minnesota women's hockey team, is widely considered a state-of-the-art facility, complete with training rooms. But the plaintiffs argued that its modest size would stunt the growth of the girls tournament.
Ridder's seating is roughly 3,000, fewer than the 5,200 of the Coliseum and substantially fewer than the nearly 18,000 at the Xcel Center, where the boys tournament has been played since 2000.
Aldrich Arena, seating 3,400, was the site of the first girls hockey tournament sponsored by the league in 1995, but the building was considered too small and the tournament was moved to the Coliseum the next year.
The Coliseum was not designed for hockey, and no seats are within 15 feet of the ice.
In 2000, a discrimination complaint was filed with the U.S. Office for Civil Rights, claiming that the MSHSL was in violation Title IX, the federal law mandating equal opportunities regardless of gender. The complaint charged that the league was holding the girls tournament at a facility inferior to where the boys tournament was played.
High school league administrators hoped Ridder Arena would solve the problem. Original plans for Ridder called for roughly 4,500 seats, but the plans were scaled back.
The Xcel Energy Center is the site of the state volleyball, dance team and wrestling tournaments, and the state gymnastics meet is held next door in Roy Wilkins Auditorium.
A move by the plaintiffs to force the league to move the tournament to the Xcel Center this year failed in December 2003. U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson rejected a request for a temporary restraining order, in part because moving the girls hockey tournament to the Xcel in February 2004 would have created a conflict with the dance tournament, scheduled for the same weekend.
The high school league asked for a summary judgment to dismiss the lawsuit, but District Judge John Tunheim denied that motion July 15.