Backyard Tournament Earns Scholarship for SUNY Cortland Student

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From left: College President Erik J. Bitterbaum, Nicholas Penberthy, Citizens Bank representative Kellea Russell, Vice President for Student Affairs C. Gregory Sharer.

CORTLAND, NY (12/14/2011)(readMedia)-- Not many 18-year-olds can raise charity money by selling the naming rights of their backyard hockey rink to a national restaurant chain.

Then again, first-year SUNY Cortland student Nicholas Penberthy isn't like many other college students.

While growing up in snowy East Amherst, N.Y., Penberthy played ice hockey on his backyard rink, developing a passion for the sport matched only by his desire to help others.

His family's house, situated at the end of a cul-de-sac in suburban Buffalo, became a winter hot spot for neighborhood friends because of its skating surface. So in 2009, Penberthy created the Backyard Classic, a tournament that has raised more than $10,000 for young hockey players from low-income families.

Penberthy was rewarded for creating the goodwill tournament with a competitive scholarship from Citizens Bank. He formally accepted the highly competitive scholarship on Dec. 7 in SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum's office in the Miller Building on campus. A childhood/early childhood education major, Penberthy was awarded $1,500 as a third-prize winner of the TruFit Good Citizen Scholarship.

More than 1,800 students applied for the award, which recognized inspiring community service efforts.

"These kids don't even have an opportunity to play hockey and I have a rink in my backyard," Penberthy said of the disadvantaged youth helped by his fundraising. "I thought: 'Why not combine the two?'"

This backyard brainchild, which he came up with as a 15-year-old, has morphed into a popular three-on-three tournament with exclusive naming rights. Penberthy has spent more than 200 hours the past year negotiating sponsorships, securing donations and managing marketing efforts.

All of the money he raises through sponsorships and tournament fees goes to Hasek's Heroes, the not-for-profit organization started by former National Hockey League (NHL) goaltender Dominik Hasek. The charity funds a youth hockey team in Buffalo made up of children from low-income families. Since 2001, Hasek's Heroes has raised more than $1 million for youth hockey.

"Usually, after buying all of the equipment, registering for a team and traveling, it costs thousands of dollars for someone to play hockey," said Penberthy, who played the sport competitively for seven years during his childhood. "Hasek's Heroes allows them to compete for free."

Last year's Backyard Classic raised $6,000 for Hasek's Heroes. That money bought matching equipment and uniforms for the Hasek's Heroes team.

The backyard tournament raised $4,000 total in its first two years and helped pay for the team's trip to Detroit, Mich., to play in an inner-city tournament. It was there that the youngsters toured the locker room of the NHL's Detroit Red Wings and attended a professional hockey game.

"For a lot of those kids, it was the first time they had ever left Buffalo," said Penberthy, who met hockey legends like Hasek and Willie O'Ree, the first African-American to play in the NHL, through his nonprofit work.

Penberthy said this year, due in large part to the $5,000 tournament naming rights the Tim Hortons food and beverage chain purchased, he hopes to raise $10,000 to $15,000 from the fourth annual tournament. The Tim Hortons chain signed a one-year contract to provide financial support as the title sponsor of the tournament.

The Tim Hortons Backyard Classic takes place Sunday, Jan. 12, in his family's neighborhood. At least 240 youngsters from Western New York are signed up, a huge jump from the 36 participants who played in the inaugural Backyard Classic.

The entry fee for each skater has stayed at $25 for four years. The attendance boom, however, has forced Penberthy to add backyard rinks in neighborhoods across Buffalo, in addition to the original 35-by-90-foot surface in his backyard.

He has managed the tournament from afar this year, despite being at SUNY Cortland, a three-hour drive from his home. In his free time, when he's not showing prospective SUNY Cortland students around campus as a tour guide or serving as a referee for intramural sports, Penberthy is responding to tournament-related emails on his smartphone.

Penberthy is also one of SUNY Cortland's Fantauzzi scholars, a group of ambitious SUNY Cortland scholarship recipients whose parents or grandparents were immigrants to the United States. The scholarship was created by SUNY Cortland alumnus John Fantauzzi '58, a retired schoolteacher who donated $5 million to establish the program and provide educational opportunities for America's most recent families.

Penberthy said he came to SUNY Cortland because of the energy he felt during his first visit to the campus. Now, the first year student's own high-energy approach to life has resulted in the recent $1,500 scholarship from Citizens Bank.

"The scholarship money's great," said Penberthy. "But the recognition it brings to a good cause is priceless."

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