Most of the time Alyssa Englert spends with Hartford-area children is spent discussing life lessons and basketball skills. Kids being kids, however, there are some more innocent, less specific questions.
“They want to know what college is like,” said Englert, a senior captain on the Hartford women’s basketball team. “They want to know if I’m really allowed to sleep until 10 in the morning.”
It’s safe to say Englert doesn’t spend many mornings sleeping in or much time sitting around.
“I certainly have a full plate, being a Division I student-athlete,” she said. “Basketball is a very important thing and keeping my grades up is right up there with it. But finding time to give back to people who are so supportive of me, our team and Hartford athletics, and being involved with the youth in the Hartford area, is a way to make our program kind of idolized. We want to be a part of the community and show that we care about the youth coming up.”
Englert is one of 84 women’s basketball players — 52 in Division I — nominated for the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Allstate Good Works Team, which honors student-athletes who have “made significant contributions to the greater good of their communities through volunteerism and civic service … in areas of leadership and charitable achievement among their peers.”
WBCA voting will narrow the 84 nominees to one 10-member team (five from Division I), to be announced in February. In April, the 10 winners will be recognized at the women’s Final Four in Nashville, where they will participate in a community project.
“With Alyssa, it was easy for her to understand the opportunity she was getting [as a student-athlete] and she’s just always been a kid who knows it makes sense to give back,” coach Jen Rizzotti said. “She goes out of her way to be a well-rounded student-athlete. We never have enough [community service] opportunities for her. She represents the program so well, because we want all players to have a grander sense of purpose in life.”
Englert carries at 3.7 GPA and will graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree in health sciences. She will remain at UHart three more years, working toward a doctorate in physical therapy. Years down the road, maybe back near her hometown of Dansville, N.Y., or in Greater Hartford, she sees herself opening a clinic and maybe coaching basketball.
Englert, a guard averaging 4.9 points and 2.2 rebounds for the Hawks (3-9, 1-0 America East), spearheads many of the community service efforts for her program. She organizes and leads clinics at schools. She speaks to large groups of students. She even baby sits Rizzotti’s young children – which has nothing to do with her WBCA nomination but speaks to the level of trust and respect the coach has for her.
“Alyssa doesn’t do anything because she has to,” Rizzotti said. “She wants the complete experience and she’s never backed down from taking on a bigger load.”
Englert has volunteered time as part of community cleanup crews and visits local hospitals. Through her involvement with the UHart Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, she has had a “buddy” from the University of Hartford Magnet School on campus and spends maybe two days a week with the sixth-grade girl. She was a key organizer for the 2012 Walk For Weaver at UHart, a fundraiser to assist in former Hawk Amanda Weaver’s recovery from colon cancer. More than $45,000 was raised.
And this year like each of the last three, Englert has helped lead the Hawks’ Adopt A Family holiday initiative in partnership with St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center and the Medical Center Giving Tree program. Each player donates about $30 from her own pocket, money that goes toward buying items on a list of needs provided by the family.
This year’s family included a 19-year-old mother of an infant daughter who is also supporting her ailing father and a sister. The family is originally from a refugee camp in Thailand and has been in the United States for five years. The mother is a student at Capital Community College in Hartford and works two part-time jobs.
Englert has developed a bond with many she’s worked with and says her volunteerism comes naturally.
“Just being from a small town, knowing [so many] people by their first name in the community, and having a lot of young girls who came to see me play, I did a lot in high school, too,” Englert said. “I’m always looking to volunteer. And being a senior captain, I kind of take the initiative.”
The Hawks also participate in the breast cancer walk at Bushnell Park every year and hold a women in sports day on campus.
“We got really formal probably four to five years ago, and it’s just become a part of who we decided we wanted to be,” said athletic director Pat Meiser, in her 21st year at Hartford. “The kids we bring here are serious about life. Kids really attack their college experience. If you’re not interested, if you just want to be a great basketball player, you’re coming to the wrong school. We expect student-athletes to give back.”
For a video clip of Englert talking about her endeavors, go to http://www.courant.com/alyssavideo
Source: December 26, 2013|By MIKE ANTHONY, manthony@courant.com, The Hartford Courant