Robert Morris hockey programs short on pledges, but optimism remains for reinstatement

Logan Bittle wants more. He needs more.

The former Robert Morris hockey player and assistant women’s coach is sitting on $1.4 million in pledges earmarked for reinstating the Robert Morris men’s and women’s ice hockey teams in time for the 2022-23 season.

All that is left is collecting — and then raising another $1.4 million.

“Currently, between ourselves and the university, we have roughly $1.4 million in pledges,” said Bittle, who helped create the Pittsburgh College Hockey Foundation to raise funds for reinstatement after the programs were cut in May. “The goal is to collect on those pledges and (to get) another $1.4 million in pledges for the following year (2023-24).”

Bittle said the foundation and university set a soft deadline of December to get cash in hand from those initial pledges.

“We’re very close to that at this point,” he said.

RMU officials did not return messages seeking comment.

Their decision to cut hockey came amid a wave of universities dropping athletic programs because of coronavirus-fueled financial losses.

RMU officials in May acknowledged the “negative impact” covid-19 had on its finances but stated “(covid-19) was not the primary factor influencing our decision.” Rather, the university cited the financial burden of scholarships, operating costs and improvements to maintain Island Sports Center, where the teams played, as reasons.

“Once you cut a program, it’s very easy to just say this is the final decision,” Bittle said. “But (the university) came up with some numbers that we needed to reach, and if we’re able to reach those, I know the school wants hockey back because they realize how important it is.”

Much work remains aside from fundraising.

The school rehired men’s coach Derek Schooley, but women’s coach Paul Colentino left to become vice president of hockey administration at Bishop Kearney Select, a private high school outside of Rochester, N.Y.

And only a handful of players remain from both teams. Transfers are becoming plentiful in college athletics, however, so Bittle is confident RMU won’t have to start over with rosters full of freshmen.

“They’re going to have the ability to have some players who have some college experience and be able to help right away,” he said.

Getting support from RMU in the form of well-heeled contacts was critical, Bittle said.

He credits RMU athletic director Chris King, associate athletic director for development T.J. Brown and several others with helping the foundation “get us in the room with the right people.”

“We’re working with the school to try and get conversations with big donors and people who are able to help financially,” Bittle said.

Bittle said the goal is to sustain the teams for the first two years and then allow “the sustainability of athletics at RMU to take over.”

“It was a handful of alums and leaders in the community who are supporters of RMU who worked really hard to get the original pledges that we got,” Bittle said. “The university wanted to get on board to help raise the rest. It’s been a lot of work. It’s good to see how much people care about the programs.”

Next fall is the earliest hockey can return, but Bittle doesn’t want to wait a year to obtain the necessary funding.

“If you know anybody,” he said, “I’d love to have it tomorrow.”