UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The platform that college student-athletes have is one often thrust on them upon arriving at school. They have the ability to impact their communities in ways they could have only dreamed about as a little kid.
With National Girls and Women in Sports Day approaching this Sunday against Iowa, the Penn State Lady Lions will have another chance to become involved with the State College community, something they are not strangers to doing through community service. Lady Lion Director of Community Outreach, Miriam Powell has overseen the team's efforts and has a passion for the effect it can have on both the community and the student-athletes themselves.
"Our motto is preparing students for a lifetime of impact," Powell said. "So, when I actually hear a student-athlete talk about how one of her greatest memories is going to be some of the lives that she touched through community service that we did, it just reminds me that I am filling a need."
The athletes have found many of these events rewarding and fun, especially when relating to kids.
"We go read at a classroom once a month," senior guard Sarah McMurtry said. "They always have a small Q and A session before we start reading to them and the kids will always just ask questions like what did you do to get so good at basketball, or what age did you start playing, and just things like that and that's when it reminds me of being in their shoes is just when they ask those questions and it prompts you to put yourself back in those shoes as a kid."
These moments with kids are supposed to be beneficial for only the kids in the activities, but from Powell's vantage point, the opportunity to give back to the community exposes a different side to many of the Lady Lions.
The college season, mixed with a full course schedule, can be a grind for anyone on the team but these moments in the community all the pressures of basketball seem to wash away.
"It's really their time to shine, their time to connect and their time to let go of some of the stresses of basketball," Powell said. "Just to give of themselves and just the way some of them truly light up and show love in everything we do when it comes to community service, it just is empowering for me, it's empowering for them and empowering for the people we connect with. It provides a lot of strength and something hopefully they carry on and remember as being important and valuable in everything they do in life in terms of giving back."
This ability to give back is so new to many of the athletes because they have never experienced a platform like this before. Many relate more to the kids asking about how they can one day be a Lady Lion, than any professional athlete.
"I think every time we go do some form of community service whether it's kids or adults it just reminds us as athletes the immense platform we have," McMurtry said. "That's something I didn't know before I came to Penn State or was a Division I athlete. It just reminds you of the huge platform you have, and the name you hold and it's really sacred."
This Sunday with the Lady Lions taking on Iowa on the court, off the court and throughout the Bryce Jordan Center will be occupied by over 50 girls learning about what it's like to work in sports with the Lady Lions.
The program reached out to the surrounding community to gauge interest surrounding National Girls and Women in Sports Day and were greeted with almost overwhelming interest.
"We have put (the girls) really in every place that we possibly can," Powell said. "We will have young ladies working with the pep band, the spirit squads, we'll have some behind the scorer's table helping with PA announcing. Chelsea (Vielhauer) is going to have some as SID's (Sports Information Directors). You name it, one broadcasting with Jerry Fisher, so we have tried to place them in areas where they are going to get true behind the scenes experience on all that goes into putting on a Lady Lion basketball game."
While the Lady Lions will be focused on the matchup with Iowa, there is no doubt they have all felt the impact the community has had on them in their time in State College.
"In the moment there is really nothing except this is really fun and this is an awesome opportunity," McMurtry said. "Every form of community service I almost always have a smile on my face. Then it's reflecting afterward or signing up for the same community service again when I remember how much fun I had."
