Tracy Dill talks about his new position with the WCHA, trying to get more exposure for women's hockey

062522.S.BP.DILL 1.jpg — Bemidji State director of athletics Tracy Dill speaks during his retirement party on Tuesday, June 21, 2022, at the John S. Glas Fieldhouse. Dill is now the interim commissioner of the WCHA.

By Mick Hatten, Jess Myers, Eli Swanson, Kris Kerzman

August 16, 2022 06:29 PM

BEMIDJI, Minn. — In June, Tracy Dill retired after spending nine years as the director of athletics for Bemidji State. Then on July 5, he was named interim commissioner for the WCHA women's hockey conference. Dill discusses his career in athletics, which began by playing football at William Penn, then working as an assistant football coach and track and field coach and then in administration at St. Cloud State before taking the job at BSU. He talks about his career, trying to help women's hockey get more exposure, how he fell in love with the game and more in The Rink Live podcast with Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.

TIME STAMPS

2:00 How his new position with the WCHA came about after retiring from being athletic director at Bemidji State

4:50 His background, coaching football and track and field at SCSU, being an administrator at St. Cloud State before moving to Bemidji State, how he ended up at BSU

6:20 Played football at William Penn, coaching and getting masters at SCSU

7:13 Was an English major and minor in math as an undergraduate

8:25 Keeping the WCHA tradition going, trying to close the gap between top four and bottom four teams in the conference, Ohio State pulling its goalie in a tie game against BSU, getting more TV coverage

12:05 How he fell in love with college hockey, his first college game was watching the University of Alaska with Mick Lucia

14:20 University of St. Thomas playing its first Division I season with head coach being the US Olympic team coach

16:25 Dealing with some radical changes in the NCAA, including the transfer portal, NIL.

19:25 Northern Michigan looking into women's hockey, rumors about North Dakota women's hockey and possible expansion

22:00 What it was like when the women's WCHA started

23:45 SCSU joining the men's WCHA, beating Wisconsin in the Bradley Center in the WCHA Final Five, Tom Serratore being an assistant coach for the Huskies

26:30 How the move to Sanford Center has helped BSU, tradition of the men's hockey program

28:30 Dynamics of the BSU campus, outdoor friendly

30:00 Being able to cheer for a WCHA team in the NCAA tournament

By Mick Hatten

Mick Hatten is a reporter and editor for Forum News Service and helps manage TheRinkLive.com, a website dedicated to hockey. He began working for Forum Communications in November 2018 and has covered St. Cloud State University hockey since 2010. A graduate of St. Cloud State, he has more than 30 years of experience as a journalist and has been a youth hockey coach since 2014. mhatten@forumcomm.com

Tracy Dill talks about his new position with the WCHA, trying to get more exposure for women's hockey

Former Bemidji State director of athletics and St. Cloud State administrator and coach discusses how he fell in love with the sport, his career in athletics, getting more women's games on TV and more on The Rink Live podcast with Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.