ABOUT SHLFA

The history of SHLFA dates back to fall of 2019 when Daniel Lipyansky, Erik Malanoski, Nate Smith, Nick Van Fleet, Alex Beaver, Tyler Martin, and Eli van der Laan, residents on the first floor of Hiester Hall, started attending Student Hockey League games to support their friend, Dillon Adamson. As the fall went on, more "Hiestermeisters" started attending games to support Dillon, Jacob Cheris, Andrey Alipov, and the rest of the White team.

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As more people attended games, the original core became more creative in showing their support. Daniel Lipyansky, wearing his Penn State construction helmet, would be the DJ with his speaker. Nate Smith and Owen Topf, proud Blue Band members, would bring their trumpets and play the national anthem, fight songs, and the Penn State Alma mater. Nick Van Fleet, with his Terrible Towel in hand, would always be the first one to arrive. Alex Beaver would take photos and videos of the action. Erik Malanoski and Tyler Martin would lead chants to get the crowd going.

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As the creativity flourished, the group began receiving more recognition from both SHL players, Pegula Ice Arena staff, and outsiders alike. The group was featured on Penn State Barstool's social media accounts. After this moment, the group decided to name themselves White Noise to give themselves an identity. This name was perfect since it represented the energy that the group created at SHL games and the support they gave to the White team.

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The highlight of the White Noise came during the first round of the SHL playoffs. Although the White team lost in a hard-fought game, the White Noise saw its largest attendance for a game, leading to another feature on Penn State Barstool.

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As the Spring 2020 SHL season began, Dillon Adamson and Jacob Cheris moved to the Red team, meaning the White Noise would have to be altered. This led to long discussions between Dillon, Jacob, Nick, Erik, Alex, Nate, Daniel, and SHL ref and founder, Jay Horgas. Out of these discussions came the idea of creating an official Penn State organization. The purpose of this organization would be to spread awareness of the Student Hockey League to Penn State students to increase attendance and provide a fun atmosphere, similar to how the White Noise had in the fall. After some paperwork and emails, the Student Hockey League Fans Association was born.

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The Student Hockey League Fans Association, or SHLFA (pronounced "shil-fuh") for short, seeks to bring players and fans of the SHL together to promote the game of ice hockey to other Penn State students. We do this by marketing and promoting the SHL to attract students to games through social media, word-of-mouth, and this website. We hope that after reading about our club's story that you will join us in celebrating both the game and college that we love.

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-Dillon Adamson, SHLFA Founder and President