Coyotes add Olympian Lyndsey Fry as ambassador, advisor to CEO

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Arizona Coyotes announced Thursday that Arizona native Lyndsey Fry will join the organization as a special advisor to president and CEO Ahron Cohen and brand ambassador.

Fry will continue to work toward growing hockey around the state, particularly women’s hockey with the Small Frys program. She will now also help build “hockey development and engagement strategy” and give advice to the organization in other areas like brand awareness, communication and more.

“Really, what [the advisory role] is designed to do is coming up with creative ideas to engage the team more in the Arizona community, as well as the local hockey communities,” Fry said. “The team is very up front about our vision, which is to be a part of the Arizona Valley for a long time to come, and I really want this role to play into that vision. So, I’m serving sort of as a bridge between the youth hockey community that I grew up a part of and the Arizona Coyotes.

“It’s really a unique role, but I am so excited to fill it and to see what we can do.”

Fry was a member of the US Olympic women’s hockey team that won the silver medal in Sochi in 2014. She also represented US teams at other international competitions and played at Harvard University from 2010 to 2015.

She earned her Masters degree at W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University just this year.

“I would throw some ideas around and I maintained good relationships in the local hockey community,” Fry said. “So, I think the team and Ahron just recognized that there was an opportunity there to kind of push beyond the limits of just being an ambassador.”

Fry is from Chandler, Ariz.

“Of course, this is my home, and so I love that I’m able to still maintain that role as an ambassador,” Fry said. “But I also love that now I’m able to take some of my business education that I built for the last couple years and apply it to something that I’m so passionate about.

“I think it was just something that as the team and as leadership and Ahron kind of got to know me better as a person and some of my goals as a professional, I think it just kind of evolved into this great, organic opportunity.”

Fry will also continue to coach women’s hockey at Grand Canyon University while she serves in this new role with the Coyotes, as she described part of her job being to stay active in the local hockey community. The Small Frys program practices on the ice right after GCU does, which allows young players to see what their hard work can lead to.

A statement from the team said that participation in women’s hockey in Arizona has increased 31 percent over the past year. Fry believes having GCU and ASU collegiate women’s hockey teams has helped that, in part.

“We are thrilled to welcome Lyndsey to our pack,” Cohen said in the release. “Lyndsey is a truly special person and an inspirational role model to young people across our state and our entire country. She is incredibly passionate about growing hockey across Arizona and her work ethic and commitment to this endeavor is exceptional.”

Fry emphasized her appreciation for her family, the Coyotes and Cohen, and the Arizona hockey community:

“I didn’t know if I was going to have the opportunity to come back home and get involved in hockey, and it really has been this statewide effort to kind of support me as a female player and a local player,” Fry said. “That I really think is the reason I’ve had the opportunities I’ve had.”

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