slideshow photo courtesy USA Hockey
A letter from the Coach Sauer Foundation to Wisconsin high school coaches...
Dear Coach,
I hope the start of the season has gone well for you and your team. Thanks for the opportunity to speak to you at the state hockey coaches convention a few weeks ago and explain what we are trying to do in starting the Coach Sauer Foundation, which will honor the work of former University of Wisconsin coach Jeff Sauer.
We would like to establish the Jeff Sauer Award to recognize good high school hockey players being great people. We plan to present the first award at the dinner on the eve of the WIAA state tournament in March. As you are aware, Jeff was a big proponent of Wisconsin high school hockey. In recent years he organized a youth clinic on the morning of the state tournament games and, since retiring at the UW, he was part of the television teams that brought the games over the air on Fox Sports Wisconsin and Quincy Broadcasting Network.
The Jeff Sauer Award is modeled after the Hockey Humanitarian Award, which is presented annually to college hockey’s finest citizen and seeks to recognize players, male or female, who contribute to local communities in a true humanitarian spirit. In its’ 22-year history, two Wisconsin natives – J.P. McKersie of Madison and Erik Raygor of Superior – received the Hockey Humanitarian Award for their community service work at Boston University and the University of Wisconsin, respectively.
The Coach Sauer Foundation would like you to encourage community service among your players and ask that you nominate one of your players who has stood out at your school and in your community for doing good things.
The Coach Sauer Foundation would then review the achievements of this group of nominees and announce a list of finalists for the Coach Sauer Award in early February. We would love to hear from a wide range of candidates, including team captains, role players and campus leaders of any age and hope to reward stories of volunteer efforts that help children, the handicapped, the homeless and the disadvantaged. These are stories of student athletes who deserve notice for reasons that ultimately are more important than mere personal statistics.
We would appreciate any help in getting the word out about the Jeff Sauer Award. Please submit the nomination from your team by Jan. 25. We hope to interview finalists by phone in February and present the award to its recipient Feb. 28 on the eve of the state tournament.
Madison Ice Arena has agreed to display a replica of the Jeff Sauer Award in its lobby to honor this year’s winner and all future winners.
Thanks again for your support in this endeavor. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. Good luck this season.
Sincerely,
Bill Brophy
President, Coach Sauer Foundation
