After three years leading the WCHA, commissioner Jennifer Flowers has announced her resignation to join Southwest Minnesota State as its director of athletics.
Flowers begins her new position in Marshall, Minn., on July 1.
“I am grateful to the WCHA for welcoming me three years ago,” Flowers said in a statement. “The opportunity to lead the best league in women’s college hockey has been an honor. I am incredibly proud of how our league navigated the challenges presented and our ability to excel through them all. The WCHA is strongly positioned for continued success.
“The highlight for me has been the relationships I’ve built with our student-athletes — young women who are truly incredible on and off the ice. The WCHA is the best of the best and I will forever be a fan.”
Since being introduced as the fourth WCHA commissioner on June 3, 2019, Flowers has made great strides in the advancement, recognition, and partnerships for the league. The 2021-22 campaign included the announcement of a revolutionary partnership between the WCHA and the Big Ten Network as the league embarked on an exclusive streaming partnership with B1G+. Increasing the exposure and visibility of the league at a national level, Flowers also bridged broadcasting partnerships with Fox9+ for the Final Faceoff and Bally Sports North throughout the season.
The success of the 2021-22 season was highlighted by Ohio State winning the league’s 19th national championship and its first title in program history. Individually, the league and its student-athletes continued to set the national standard as all top-three finalists for the 2022 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award called the WCHA home. Flowers continued to showcase the successes of the WCHA’s student-athletes as she aired weekly “Commissioner’s Corner” episodes, increasing from 13 one-on-one episodes in 2020-21 to 24 episodes in 2021-22.
“On behalf of the WCHA, we congratulate Jen on being named the director of athletics at Southwest Minnesota State,” Wisconsin senior associate athletic director and chair of the WCHA board of directors Jason King said. “Jen has been a tremendous leader for the WCHA, and she will be greatly missed. We wish her and her family the best of luck as she transitions into this new role and look forward to her continuing to build positive experiences for her student-athletes.”
Continuing to grow the WCHA’s external relations, the year included Flowers’ announcement of the largest sponsorship deals for the Final Faceoff championship in league history along with a fresh website partnership with SIDEARM Sports. Flowers’ vision for the league continues to build on the campus relations with her coaching staffs and student-athletes, along with historic growth of the WCHA’s social media presence.
During the 2020-21 season, Flowers guided the WCHA through the challenging COVID-19 pandemic. The WCHA was the first women’s league to return to the ice and the efforts paid off as Wisconsin won the league’s 18th national championship, while both Ohio State and Minnesota Duluth also advanced to the Frozen Four.
Flowers’ first year was capped off with the announcement of the addition of St. Thomas to the WCHA. The move returned the WCHA to eight member schools in 2021-22 for the first time since 2016-17. Flowers hit the ground running during the run-up to the 2019-20 season, visiting the seven WCHA campuses prior to the start of the campaign to introduce herself to coaches, student-athletes and staff at each institution. She continued to engage with the league’s many stakeholders throughout her first season, with a special focus on WCHA student-athletes. That engagement has given league players a stronger voice in on- and off-ice issues.
The WCHA will begin a national search for Flowers’ replacement in the coming weeks.
