Dec. 2, 2016
By Tom Shively, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa - Every Penn State athletic team sends one representative to the Student-Athlete Advisory Board (SAAB) on campus, in charge of planning out community involvement. For the women's hockey team, that person is junior forward Aly Hardy.
"I volunteered personally," Hardy said. "My freshman and sophomore years, I tried to get involved in SAAB, but I always had classes Monday night [meetings are held then]. So I tried to do as much as I could, we'd do canning before some of the games and different activities."
After all of her hard work, Hardy was finally able to become the team rep this season.
"Basically, I go to all of the SAAB meetings and then there are individual committees," she said. "I'm a part of a couple of committees, but overall, we just meet and do different things. For the THON committee, I put together the signed stick for the auction for SAAB THON. We just do all those types of things. We'll do athlete events, like we have a movie night coming up for all the athletes. We also make baskets for local communities and that kind of stuff."
The "signed stick" refers to the stick signed by all member's of the women's hockey team as part of the SAAB online auction.
"All of that money is going straight towards SAAB THON," Hardy said. "All of the different teams put together some sort of piece that they wanted to auction off. Some put together a basket of different apparel that was signed."
"It's an important role for every team in Penn State athletics," head coach Josh Brandwene said. "To have a representative that's so dedicated, so consistent with her contributions, makes me really proud as a Penn Stater. It's up to them. It's who wants that role and who wants to make a commitment. It's no surprise to me that Aly stepped up to the plate."
Hardy also spoke about the importance of being part of the community, especially as someone in such a prominent role as a student-athlete at Penn State.
"I'm an RPTM (Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management) major, so I'm looking into possibly doing event management or planning," Hardy said. "Just being able to be a part of all that and creating things like that. I'm in "The Nittanys" group, so I'm putting together all the stuff for the Nittanys, which is an awards banquet at the end of the year for the athletes. It's just really cool to see that aspect of everything."
Inside the glass, Hardy has steadily improved over her two-plus seasons as a Penn Stater, garnering praise and respect from her coach along the way.
"She is a leader and example setter with the little things and the details," Brandwene said. "Decisions at blue lines, battles in the corner, blocking shots, out-racing loose pucks and waving off icings, it's those sort of efforts that make the difference over a 60-minute hockey game."
Hardy had proved to be a valuable matchup asset because of her adaptability and instinct.
"Versatility is one of her great strengths," Brandwene said. "Her hockey IQ is so strong. You can put her in any situation and she is going to thrive."
Throughout the year, Brandwene and several players (including Hardy) have cited the team's ability to come back from adversity as a defining factor that has shaped this group's development.
"The thing that stands out the most is the way they respond to adversity," Brandwene said. "Whether it's in between periods or out of time outs. Life is 95 percent how you respond and this team is fabulous at that."
"Overall, our bounce backs from any sort of downfall have been great and it really gets everyone going," Hardy said. "Sometimes when one or two people go out after a timeout and kill their shift, it's very motivating for everyone else."
The Nittany Lions have a chance to bounce back this weekend as they return to Pegula Ice Arena and conference play with two games against first-place Robert Morris. Puck drops are set for 1 p.m. Saturday and 12 p.m. Sunday.