2012 Maurice Batie Award of Excellence Recipient

AwardExcellenceAlexBerger

2012 winner Alex Berger (right) presented by Adam Beamer

The following speech was made by 2011 Mo Award winner, Taylor Voss on June 3, 2012 as she announced the 2012 Maurice Batie Award of Excellence.


I am very excited to be back here tonight and presenting this award because of the meaning it holds not only to myself, but also to this club. The moment I received this award last year was one of those moments I will remember for a lifetime. Since I was 13 I’d seen outstanding players who I considered role models receive the Maurice Batie Award, so I knew immediately what a great accomplishment I’d achieved and felt very honored to be a part of it. I think that’s what makes me so excited to be standing up here now, and presenting the award to this years’ winner because I believe she is more then deserving of this recognition.

I was not fortunate enough to know Maurice personally, but over the years I have become familiar with the two phrases we remember him by, “good people” and “she’s a player”.

This year’s winner is definitely a good person. She is a generous and caring person who not only puts in hours of practice with her own team, but goes the extra mile and helps out at practices with younger teams. More importantly every thing she does, she does it with a positive attitude, which makes others want to be around her. I would call this person a natural leader, and a dedicated, dependable teammate. Those are not often found. The positive attitude that she takes in life is carried with her every time she steps on the court.

I have known this player for a long time, and am confident that Maurice would agree with me when I quote him and say, “she’s a player”. If there is one thing I am certain about, it’s that she never gives up. She works hard to make herself and her teammates better. It doesn’t matter the drill she will give 110% every time, and she plays with a passion for the game that reminds the rest of us how fun it is meant to be.

While she doesn’t score a lot of points, she is a key part in her team’s success. Even though she has earned many individual awards from her hard work and talent, at the end of the day she just wants to see her team succeed. She is a team player and anyone would be lucky to have her for a teammate.

After having six successful seasons with Northern Lights, an outstanding high school volleyball career complete with all-state honors and a state championship to prove it, she will continue her success at Northern Michigan University in the fall.

So if you haven’t guessed already. I am proud to present 2012 Maurice Batie Award winner… Alex Berger…Congratulations Alex!