center ice club

St. Cloud Times (MN)

February 8, 2007

There Through Thick and Thin

Author: Kevin Allenspach

Section: Sports

Page: 1D

By Kevin Allenspach

When you think of college sports boosters, perhaps specifically for big-time football and basketball, it's easy to imagine the loud-talking, free-spending wheeler-dealers.

They'll spare no expense while trying to pave the way to a championship with dollars for their school.

In Division I college hockey, at least at St. Cloud State, some of the biggest boosters look, act and live just like average fans.

And that's because they are.

While corporate sponsorships can cost up to $7,500 annually and account for a lot of the SCSU athletic budget, the most passionate backers of the men's and women's hockey teams aren't represented by a dasher board or a donor sign.

The members of the Center Ice Club — the non-profit SCSU hockey booster organization — wear their pride on their sleeves, quite literally. Most of them are season-ticket holders who don some kind of SCSU gear for games. You can find them in seats throughout the National Hockey Center.

Of course, some, like Bill Prout, are too busy to sit down. He probably won't this weekend when the fourth-ranked Huskies play host to Colorado College.

"I think I've sat in my seats for about four games," said Prout, who for 13 years has been president of the CIC.

"I think those were against Minnesota when there just wasn't any place to stand."

Why would he rather be on his feet? Prout watches intently so he can report the action on the club Web site after the game. He loads photos he snaps with his digital camera.

Before and after games, and between periods, he hustles down to an ice-level dressing room that serves as the CIC hospitality room. There he makes sure members can find refreshments, a TV feed of that night's action, an updated marker board with scores from around the country, and other club merchandise.

With roughly 700 members, the CIC has made nearly a quarter of a million dollars in donations — cash and the purchase of tangible items — since St. Cloud State went Division I in 1987. More than $150,000 of that has come since the Huskies won the Broadmoor Trophy at the WCHA Final Five in 2001.

Based on a proposal before the state legislature to provide $11 million of a $13 million future renovation to the Hockey Center, the CIC has pledged to work in concert with other local donors to help make up the difference.

"By next year, we'll be one of the university's top 50 all-time donors of any kind, not just athletics," Prout said. "And it's been a blue-collar effort."

Doing business

It started that way in 1986, when Herb Brooks became coach of what was a Division III team and ignited the Division I aspirations. If it was going to happen, a booster club would have to come along.

Just about every Division I program has an organization that helps promote donations. At St. Cloud State, this saves some expenses from being squeezed out of an already thin budget.

For example, the CIC has purchased computer hardware and software in recent years to keep the team up to date with video scouting technology. It was about a $30,000 expense.

"Those are things the program needs and, if they didn't come from their donations, they'd have to come from somewhere," SCSU athletic director Morris Kurtz said. "It makes my job that much easier when they're providing things like that. But we also value the fact that the CIC members have such passion for the game. They're constantly talking up the program, and that gets around."

Like Bill and Sheila Kloeppner, who have had season tickets since 1986-87. They've missed fewer than a dozen home games in the past 20 years, usually because they've followed the SCSU women's team on the road.

"Membership in the club has certainly increased over the years, which is a really great thing," said Sheila Kloeppner, a credit analyst with a commercial real estate group of Wells Fargo and the club treasurer. "One of the best things, though, is how it hasn't changed. Our membership isn't made up of corporate sponsors; our membership is made up of individuals and families."

The Kloeppners, who live in Shoreview, have attended every one of the Huskies' NCAA Tournament games, including the first two in 1989 at Lake Superior State.

"I think we joined because it was such a hugely enjoyable part of our lives," said Bill Kloeppner, an industrial mechanic with Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation in Minneapolis. "It seemed like the best way to support the program when you couldn't afford to endow a hockey scholarship. We became board members for the same reason. We wanted to do more for the program and still couldn't swing that $150,000 scholarship."

The Kloeppners already have tickets and their vacation scheduled for the Frozen Four in St. Louis. They hope the Huskies give the rest of the club members an excuse to come down.

"It is still a club for average fans," Bill Kloeppner said. "A quarter of a million dollars raised over the history of the club, a lot of it has come $1, $5 and $10 at a time ... That allows people to plunk down a few bucks and know that they are doing a little more than just going to a game, to get a sense of ownership of the Hedicans, Hartigans and Parrishes. That makes it their team."

Being the connection

Paul Raduns was another inaugural member of the CIC who has seen SCSU hockey from outside and in since his son, Nate, has been a forward for the Huskies the past four years.

"The real beauty of the CIC members and our fans as a whole is that most all of them seemed to be there in numbers, working hard, donating money, going to socials and supporting the program even in the leaner years," he said. "The (hospitality) room seems just as packed between periods for all the four years we have had a player in the program. The majority are in no way fair-weather fans."

And, despite the snowstorms and frigid temperatures that accompany the season, the Raduns often see the same faces at road games.

"There's a large core of travelers who, as much as any parents, seem to be there game in and game out," said Bonnie Raduns, Paul's wife. "It is always great to have such a positive traveling fan base. It adds a lot to road-trip fun. At home, the CIC room at the NHC and the many fans you meet there let parents know just how strong the support for the program really is."

Club memberships range from $30 to $175, with benefits increasing from a newsletter and hospitality room access to media guides, highlight videos, banquet tickets and free apparel or merchandise.

The idea isn't to ask a lot but to give a lot.

"Our everyday fan already is making a $400 to $800 donation in their season tickets," Prout said. "Our dues are a nominal donation to most people. It gives them the satisfaction that they're contributing and they like the camaraderie of being in the club. The university doesn't have time to cater to individual fans. That's where our friend-building comes in. It frees the university to spend time on larger corporate donors."

Prout estimates the economic impact of the CIC, including season-ticket sales and other revenue the club doesn't count as a donation, at approximately $250,000 a year. That's equivalent to nearly half the expense budget for the men's team.

Bill Kemp, who preceded Prout as president and created the first club constitution, finds it hard to fathom such growth.

"I'd had season tickets since Charlie Basch was the coach," said Kemp, a retired former associate dean of the SCSU College of Science and Technology. "I think we raised $8,700 the year I was president (1993-94) ... (Prout) is much better at the job than I ever could have been."

Time well-spent

Last Friday was a rarity for Prout. Neither of the men's or women's teams was playing in town, and he and his wife, Sue, elected to spend a quiet evening at home. Their house is just across the Mississippi River from campus, and they can count on one hand the number of weekends this season that haven't been interrupted by Huskies games.

They wouldn't have it any other way. In addition to Bill's duties with the CIC, Sue works in the SCSU president's office.

"Sue's obviously loyal to St. Cloud State and she's very understanding of me, too, because if we're not at a game somewhere I'm usually watching one on TV," Bill Prout said. "I don't have enough VCRs to record everything I want to see, but I'll tape games and then speedwatch."

When that's done, he often stays up late, updating the club Web site or surfing for more college hockey news.

"It's a release from what I do for a living," said Prout, an account executive for Wausau Signature Agency. "It's a dog-eat-dog world in the insurance business, and hockey gives me a chance to forget about it for awhile."

More likely, it's hockey that won't let him go. Prout, 51, is originally from Eveleth. He played high school hockey but got away from the sport when he moved to St. Cloud in 1979. His job as a claims adjustor kept him on the road a lot.

After Brooks came to SCSU, curiosity and former university administrator Bill Radovich convinced Prout to check out the action, then at the Municipal Athletic Complex.

From then on, he was hooked. Since becoming active in the club, he has helped create opportunities for fan trips to road games — always at a break-even proposition for the CIC.

More important, the club has provided the team with TVs and stereo equipment, furniture for the players' lounges and coaches' offices, new weight room equipment, displays for the jerseys of former Huskies in the NHL, and most recently new commercial washers and dryers.

"Since we're sport-specific, it's easy for us to respond quickly to a need," Prout said. "If we were a general booster club, that wouldn't be the case."

The CIC also produces the annual postseason banquet, largely with the help of Sue Prout.

"Bill does an unbelievable job," said Huskies coach Bob Motzko, who came to SCSU after four years at Minnesota. "I'm telling you, he's one of the best I've ever seen in charge of a support group. It's incredible what they've been able to do here, and he understands value so the members feel like they're getting something. And he understands communication. I guarantee you more parents call and e-mail him for info about the team than contact me."

Prout developed a close relationship with former coach Craig Dahl and can be found having lunch semi-regularly with Motzko, who says he wants to create more "fun-raisers" for CIC members and a stronger connection between them and the players.

"I know the coaches and I know the administration," Prout said. "As long as it's fun for me, I'll stay involved."

The Dogg Pound option

For a no-fee alternative for SCSU students who want to join a hockey booster club, try the Dogg Pound.

Commonly found in Section 108 for games at the National Hockey Center, the Dogg Pound serves to promote student participation and spirit.

"Our section is known for being very loud," club president Brandon Doyle said. "The club, however, is separate from the actual student section. Not many of the people (at games) participate in the club. It has become more of just an organization that takes responsibility for bringing the flag."

The Dogg Pound organized a trip to North Dakota last November and expects to travel to some of the coming postseason games, too.

"We feel that you shouldn't have to pay to help support your team, and that our members are poor college students," Doyle said.

For more information about the Dogg Pound Club, e-mail dpc@stcloudstate.edu.

CIC cheaper than similar clubs

In addition to the Center Ice Club at St. Cloud State, the other three WCHA programs in Minnesota have similar booster organizations. However, clubs at the universities of Minnesota and Minnesota State-Mankato require larger donations and the one at the University of Minnesota-Duluth is not sport-specific.

The Minnesota Gophers Blue Line Club sponsors a series of luncheons, a Kids Skate with the Gophers, an alumni game, the annual team awards banquet and a golf tournament.

Memberships range from $50 to $500 and do not include any game tickets. Proceeds from the Blue Line Club have been used toward two endowed scholarships, improvements at Mariucci Arena including purchase of championship banners and restoration of memorabilia, as well as the purchase of computer, video, weight room and sports medicine equipment and cheerleader uniforms.

The Maverick Blue Line Club at MSU-Mankato offers members premium reserved seats, free parking, access to a hospitality room at which coach Troy Jutting speaks before each game, autographed team photo posters, access to travel-with-the-team events, and access to the Maverick Corral during home games at the Midwest Wireless Civic Center.

Memberships range from $150 to $1,950, with the top two levels ($975 and $1,950) including two and four season tickets, and $275 and $550 scholarship donations, respectively.

Record Number: stc8240961