ShawneeDispatch.com

If you have been at a Shawnee Mission Northwest sporting event in the last three years, then you’ve probably seen her.

Perhaps it was her diving for a ball on the volleyball court as a member of this year’s state-qualifying Cougar netters. Or maybe it was her dribble-driving down the lane as a guard on the SMNW basketball team. In the spring, you could have seen her sprinting at any of the Northwest varsity track meets as she played a vital part in the Cougar relay teams.

The point is, Alicia Watson — the Shawnee Dispatch’s Shawnee Mission Northwest Female Senior Athlete of the Year – seems like she’s always been there. Watson, a three-sport varsity athlete, has been a constant presence on Northwest varsity teams for the past three school years. In a sense, if Watson wasn’t involved, the game seemed incomplete.

Watson wasn’t known for being a game-breaker or a person who lit up the statistical charts, but – if you ask her coaches — her role was much more important.

In sports parlance, the nicknames for Watson’s role are plentiful: “the glue guy (girl);” “the backbone;” “the sparkplug;” “the rallying point.” For her coaches and teammates, Watson has been someone on which to rely; someone who knows how to provide the right example. In short, when a Northwest coach wanted to show how something was properly done, they counted on Watson for an example.

As part of coach Holly Davidson’s volleyball squad, Watson was one of the leaders on the team two years ago who made transitioning from former coach Bonnie Welty to Davidson easier. Watson’s coachability and willingness to provide a good example are what Davidson remembers most fondly.

“I think that Alicia is all you can ask for in a player,” Davidson said. “She leads by example and is very coachable. What’s amazing about her is that she’s a great leader on and off the floor. She worked harder than anybody else I’ve ever had.

“I sat down with her earlier, before the season, and I asked her to lead by example. For me, she’s that kid who, when asked to do something, is the first one. She takes the bull by the horns.”

It was Watson’s work ethic and coachability that led to the senior signing a letter of intent to play volleyball at Northwest Missouri State in the fall. For her high school coach, the signing came as no surprise.

“Alicia was absolutely determined to play college volleyball,” Davidson said. “She was probably late to be seen by college coaches because of her involvement in three sports, but the coach there sometimes looks specifically for three-sport athletes. He got a good one in Alicia.”

Northwest track coach Mike Cooper recently had a decision to make. Cooper and the athletic staff at Northwest had decided to give out their own male and female athlete of the year awards.

Turned out the female decision was easy — Watson.

“We felt the winner needed to be a three-sport athlete, and Alicia fit that bill,” Cooper said. “Her volleyball and basketball coaches had named her their teams’ MVP, not necessarily because of her athletic skill but her leadership and work ethic.”

“Alicia’s quiet, so she leads by showing them what to do. She has outstanding grades — in the top 10 percent at Northwest. She displays great citizenship; she’s got it all. She’s one of those people that — when you give out an award like this — people don’t ask, ‘Are you sure about that?’”

Cougar girls basketball coach Brian McIntosh stepped into a challenging situation this season — his first as Northwest’s new coach. The Cougars were coming off a losing season and the athletic culture around Northwest seemed geared more toward cross country, soccer, or softball than it did to basketball. McIntosh had to get his athletes thinking, eating, breathing and practicing like basketball players.

He found perhaps his strongest ally in Watson.

“It wouldn’t have been the same without her,” McIntosh said. “She was a leader by example. Her work ethic was second to none. She had a great attitude the entire year.”

“The best thing is — she’s an even better person than she is an athlete. Her GPA is ridiculous — like a 4.5. She’s one of those girls that — if you have a daughter — you want her to be just like Alicia.”

“She’s a tremendous student-athlete and that’s what college coaches want. Her university is not going to have to worry about grades with her. She’s able to balance athletics and academics. She’s the girl you want to put on the front of the program. She’ll be an asset to the community and you won’t have to get her to play harder. A college coach couldn’t ask for a better representative.”

Though Watson was known as a girl and athlete of few words during her high school career, it is a safe bet that the courts of athletic competition at Northwest will seem somewhat quieter in her absence. Sometimes examples speak volumes.

Comments