Although the internet may not be filled with easy to find tales of past Point Park athletes of prominence, that doesn’t mean there weren’t any. Amy Saunders is one, who is featured in this article unmodified from its original form published Nov. 11, 1980.
Surely everyone who has played or watched sports knows winning isn’t merely a matter of coaxing your local soothsayer.
True, every team experiences a few instances of unexplained luck which seem to convert a sadly deficient team into an unrivaled champ.
That moment of elation, however, is short-lived.
Most people will agree the road to the summit is clearly cluttered with potholes of huge dimension.
Amy Saunders believes just that.
Saunders, a 5’7 junior forward for the Point Park girls’ basketball team, intently believes that winning consistently requires the development of a sturdy foundation.
“Without question, in order to a team to succeed in any league, it must first develop quantity in every position,” explains Saunders. “This is one of the key points with our team this coming December.”
Saunders’ point is well-taken. Last season PPC’s girls basketball team had only a total of eight players. It’s extremely difficult to execute proficiently with a depleted lineup.
This season, however, the team seems to be on the upswing. In only its third year of existence, the girls basketballers will definitely benefit from the recruiting of capable players, in general, and the recruiting of Amy Saunders, in particular.
Saunders, a graduate of Taylor Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh, began her basketball days back in grade school.
“I remember I had a playground teacher who influenced me very much,” she says reminiscently.” “Once I started playing, the game became almost habit-forming.”
After playing and enjoying streams of success in high school, Saunders made the decision to attend nearby Community College of Allegheny County where she averaged 12 points per game with the basketball team there.
Last year she suffered a very untimely injury which certainly hindered her production.
“I broke my wrist early last year and that had a lot to do with some scholarship opportunities going down the drain. Out of all the remaining schools I considered, I chose Point Park because of its high ranking both athletically and also academically.”
“We have a lot of freshman on our team and they will provide us with depth at key positions,” exclaims Saunders — politely but firmly. “I think we are making huge chunks of progress in a relatively short period of time. We’ll surprise a lot of people this year.”
