Aug. 11, 2017
MANILA, Philippines ââ'¬" Recent graduate, former captain and Penn State all-time leading scorer David Goodwin '17 joined another former Nittany Lion captain in Patrick Koudys '15 while continuing his humanitarian efforts overseas this summer.
The two former teammates traveled to the Philippines in June to help lead a three-day hockey camp whose proceeds funded a leading charitable organization, PANDOO Foundation.
Goodwin, a 2017 Hockey Humanitarian and Senior CLASS Award finalist recently began training camp in Lappeenranta, Finland with the Liiga-Saipa Oy of the Finnish Elite League, but before he began his professional career he couldn't pass up the chance to add to his long list of humanitarian efforts.
"Coming to Manila and working to develop the game in a very non-traditional market with all the proceeds going to charity was an incredible opportunity, experience and memory," stated Goodwin. "I was surprised by the players' skill level and commitment, particularly the teenagers."
PANDOO Foundation is a Singapore-based non-profit organization that uses the online game PANDOO Nation to connect kids to causes in developing countries. Several of the founders of PANDOO Nation are hockey players who regularly compete in tournaments and host charity hockey schools in Asia.
The Philippines is the latest staging ground for hockey in the region. Two new purpose-built, NHL-sized facilities opened last year, including one in the capital city of Manila and the other in Cebu, the country's second largest city.
The event was co-sponsored by the Philippine Ice Hockey Federation and consisted of 37 local youth players ranging in age from 8-17. Chris Sy, President of Hockey Philippines, was thrilled to have to have the NCAA Hockey presence in town. "PANDOO always sources the top talent. Having the Penn State guys join us last week was a huge treat for our players. We can't wait to have them back."
Goodwin finished his career in "Hockey Valley" with 128 points on 44 goals and 84 assists in 147 games. His games played, points and assist totals all rank first in program history while his 44 goals are good for second. Koudys appeared in 72 games for the Nittany Lions in two seasons after transferring in from RPI. The defenseman registered 16 points on three goals and 13 assists while wearing the Blue and White.
"The Filipinos were so hospitalble and we had a great time seeing the city of Manila," commented Goodwin, "It's going to be a cold winter in Finland so getting on the ice in the tropics was a nice way to level things out."