Milwaukee’s Alyssa Fischer Named 2020 Bobby Fong Award Winner
INDIANAPOLIS – Milwaukee women’s basketball player Alyssa Fischer has been named this year’s recipient of the Horizon League’s Bobby Fong Award. The award is named after the late Bobby Fong who served as the President of Butler University from 2001-11. The Bobby Fong Award is given to the student-athlete or team that best represents the Horizon League and its core values of integrity, respect and stewardship.
“Bobby understood that to lead is to serve. Great leaders demonstrate by example the values they seek to instill and support others in following their lead. Alyssa Fischer not only supports her fellow athletes herself, she has found ways to enable them to help and support one another. As Bobby did, she lives out her faith in service to others. In so doing, she encourages everyone around her to make their worlds a little better. Bobby would be so proud of her, as am I,” said Bobby’s widow Suzanne Fong.
Throughout her time at Milwaukee, Fischer has become a leader for the Panthers both on and off the court, including serving as the President of the campus SAAC (Student Athlete Advisory Committee).
“Alyssa is incredibly deserving of the Bobby Fong Award. She embodies the defining characteristics of integrity, respect, and stewardship on a daily basis. It was engrained in her early in life by her amazing parents, Craig and Amy. I’m so thankful to have had the chance to coach and mentor a player and person of Alyssa’s caliber. She has elite athletic ability, a non-stop work-ethic both on the court and in the classroom, and a complete willingness to put others first. I can’t wait to see what she accomplishes in her next chapter of life,” commented Milwaukee women’s basketball head coach Kyle Rechlicz.
As SAAC President, Fischer has administered a social media specific subcommittee that harnesses the beauty of inclusion and extending understanding of all, she heads the diversity and inclusion promotion week, directs the OneLove Foundation, the initiative to educate young people about healthy versus unhealthy relationships, and she guest speaks each month to keep all team reps within the Panther athletic department informed on key topics like mental health, nutrition, administration roles and others.
Fischer was the catalyst of “Buddy Team System” partnerships within the Milwaukee athletic department. She led the women’s basketball team in supporting men’s soccer, women’s soccer and men’s cross country teams on campus by coordinating tournament sendoffs, community services events with the teams and bonding experiences.
“Alyssa defines what it means to be a student-athlete. She is an outstanding student, hard-working athlete, and an even better person, who embodies the Horizon League’s core values of integrity, respect, and stewardship. She is constantly thinking of others and has certainly left her mark on our department in her role as SAAC President. Her impact at Milwaukee will still be felt many years from now,” said Milwaukee Associate Director of Athletics – Academic Services and SAAC Supervisor, Clare Faurote.
Fischer also sits on the UWM Faculty Governance Athletic Board which helps bridge the gap between athletics and the faculty on campus.
As Butler’s President, Dr. Fong served on the Horizon League Board of Directors from 2001-2011, including a term as its chairman. Dr. Fong’s decade as the President of Butler University was marked by a new core curriculum and improved campus-community relationships. Under his watch, Butler sustained an athletic program distinguished by its balance between academic achievement and competitive excellence.
Bobby Fong Award Winners
2016- Elena Popkey, Women’s Basketball, Oakland
2017- Sami Rutowski, Women’s Soccer, Northern Kentucky
2018- Northern Kentucky Baseball
2019- Karissa Frazier, Softball, UIC
2020- Alyssa Fischer, Women’s Basketball, Milwaukee