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The Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association has announced Stevie Clark of Oshkosh North and Alana Durtschi of Albany/Monticello as the 2024 student recipients of the Legacy Leadership Award. 

The award was established in 2019 to honor the legacy, leadership, and lives of WBCA Executive Board members John Cary (former MACC Fund director), Jerry Petitgoue (state's winningest coach & WBCA Executive Director), and David Royston (founder of JustAGame Fieldhouse) in recognition of their leadership qualities, characteristics in interpersonal relationships, and achievement as Board members.

The WBCA-MACC Fund Legacy Award will be given annually to an Executive Board member and senior student who demonstrates the exemplary qualities of Character, Courage, and Service. Loren Homb of Watertown was previously selected as the Executive Board recipient of the award this year.

The supporting information provided by the coaches of Clark and Durtschi can be found below.

Supporting information from Oshkosh North coach Brad Weber:

I am writing to nominate Class of 2024 Steven Clark from Oshkosh North High School for the WBCA Legacy Leadership Award. Stevie is a great candidate for this award because of his continued contributions to the game of basketball, our community, and his school. He exemplifies what this award embodies by showing strong character, courage in the face of adversity, and a dedication to others through service. I encourage you to strongly consider him based off of his approach and behaviors.

“Action is character” F. Scott Fitzgerald

Stevie’s character traits are revealed through his actions. Since I have known him he has been an active member in our schools. He has gone back to his elementary school and read to the current students. He has given presentations to his old middle school to promote finding your passion and pursuing it. Stevie is a member of our Polaris Honor Society and a member in our FFA club. He also pours into the basketball community by being a 3 year captain our our varsity team, mentoring our captains on the subvarsity level, as well as helping out with our youth program at practices and camps.

Another area where Stevie’s strong character traits are demonstrated is within his family. He is an integral care taker for two foster medical children which their family has adopted. Besides being a great big brother, he knows how to work all the machines including a home oxygen concentrator, gtube machine, mobile oxygen tanks etc. He also helps to drive his other siblings, who have visual disabilities, and is now a paid respite provider! These actions and behaviors are unique in our society; especially for a teenager.

“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” — E.E. Cummings

Stevie has always been confident in who he is. One thing that people are always amazed to hear is that he is a bee keeper. Bee keeping is a passion of his and he is not afraid of what others will say. He experienced bullying in middle school; a combination of his dad being the head coach in the district as well as him having unique interests that differ from the norm. Another unique development from being a bee keeper is that Stevie discovered that he is allergic to bees! Not only did this not stop him from following his passion it also created more opportunities to show courage. He now goes to get shots from the doctor to build up an immunity to it. More than once he has had a scary reaction to the dosage, yet he keeps coming back for the shots and working with the bees. Stevie has oozed courage throughout his development into the person he is.

"What you do has far greater impact than what you say."- Steven Covey

If you look at all of the examples that have been provided you will see that Stevie’s life is centered around serving others. Service within the education community. Service with students and players. Service for the environment. Stevie has already researched the Colgate University community to see where he can become involved next year when gets to campus. He is more than a basketball player! He is an invested member in all of his environments.

Supporting information from Albany/Monticello coach Derik Doescher:

“There are three essentials to leadership: Clarity, courage, & humility.” I can’t think of a better quote to summarize the leadership of Alana Durtschi of Albany HS. For four years, Alana has epitomized everything that a coach & athletic director looks for in a basketball player.

Alana’s leadership on the basketball court has led to countless individual & team successes and awards. At the halfway point of her senior year, Alana is a two time all-conference player, POY in the conference as a junior, D5 WBCA first team all-state as a junior, over 1,000 point scorer, two time team MVP, and has led the “Lady Comets” to three consecutive regional championships, three sectional finals, and the first ever STATE appearance in school history as a junior in 2023.

What overshadows all of these basketball accolades is the most humble, giving, dedicated, & empathetic student athlete I’ve ever been around. Alana Durstchi is all of these on a daily basis. As a junior, Alana and a teammate decided to help out our youth basketball organization with finances that had been depleted largely due to COVID years. Alana Durtschi and Abby Hollis spearheaded a 3 vs. 3 tournament hosted at Albany HS called the “COMET CLASSIC.” Alana and her teammate did all of the planning, organizing, advertising, & facilitating of the tournament. The inaugural tournament in 2022 raised $1,900.00 for the Junior Comet League Youth Basketball organization. This last November of 2023 was the 2nd Annual “COMET CLASSIC” that raised over $3,800.00 for the JCL. ALL money raised went back to the youth basketball organization. This money has helped numerous boys and girls in small rural Albany to have an affordable chance to play the game of basketball that has been such a big part of Alana’s life. This example shows the CLARITY that Alana has. She understands the “BIG PICTURE” of life and what it means to help others. With the help of her teammate, she has the vision to find a way to have an impact and follow through with that vision.

Alana’s freshman year of basketball, she was moved up to the varsity level right away. If you watched Alana play you would have never known. Since day one, she has had the courage to be a leader in the roughest stretches of the game, in the locker room, & in the hallways of AHS. This takes courage & usually isn’t brought to fruition until one’s junior or senior seasons. Not with Alana, it has been her courageous personality that has changed our entire program for the last four years.
 
I have countless stories of the humility side of Alana. I can honestly say, I have never met anyone, not even an adult as humble as this young lady. When she was approaching her 1,000 point during midway point of her senior season, it was NEVER talked about. Alana didn’t want any attention drawn to her accomplishment. She never talked about it to the coaches, teammates, or friends. When she was named the POY Six Rivers Conference as a junior and first team all-state, she was appreciative, but deflected all the attention and rather put it back on the team. Her teammates adore her and follow her lead, not her lead through words, rather her lead through actions, work ethic, & humility.

In summary, the characteristics that Alana has led with have had a profound impact on the community of Albany and AHS. The high school has 82 students total in grades 9-12. Every little girl that walks the halls in our 4k-12th grade building wants to be like Alana. They see more than just a star basketball player. Alana is the class of 2024 valedictorian, she is a class officer, involved in NHS, Student Council, 4H where she shows animals in the local fair, along with also playing volleyball & softball for Albany High School. Alana is involved with the Albany United Methodist Church and has participated in numerous summer youth church mission trips. As a father of three young daughters, I can proudly say that Alana is their hero & I thank her for being such a great role model to my children and all the children of the Albany Community. For all of these reasons I wholeheartedly recommend Alana Durtschi as a nominee of the WBCA Legacy Leadership Award.