Slam dunk!

Woody Dahl, the tall, lanky, hooper and co-captain of the Albert Lea High School basketball team has extended his talent more than enough to earn Albert Lea Family Y Youth Citizen of the Year.

The award is given to a youth who shows good volunteer work at the Y and in the community, Dennis Dieser, Family Y executive director, said.

Dahl volunteers at the Y by teaching the fundamentals of basketball to elementary kids and refereeing their games at the Y’s winter basketball camp.

Dahl, an 18-year-old senior, said he has fun teaching the kids and knowing that what he is showing them is going to help them in what they do later on.

“It’s cool to be a part of how they learn things,” he said.

Dahl also teaches a basketball camp for junior high players run by the Albert Lea High School basketball team.

Dahl said he started volunteering his time to teach basketball because his basketball coach told him it was important to go and pass down the basics and fundamentals of the game to young kids.

Dahl connected with this because he learned those skills from his dad, Pat, at a young age.

“I’ve played basketball since I could walk,” Dahl said.

The Family Y’s Youth Citizen of the Year winner is selected by a committee, Dieser said.

He said Dahl was chosen because he is often willing to help out and the young kids really look up to him.

“He’s just a great role model for kids in the community,” Dieser said.

Dieser also said that Dahl carries himself well and never acts any different no matter where he is.

“He’s always Woody,” he said.

When Dahl found out a few weeks ago that he won the award he said he was really honored that he was chosen.

The Albert Lea Family Y, does “really good things and I’m proud to be a part of what they do,” the basketball player said.

Besides being the co-captain of the basketball team, Dahl is the co-captain of the cross country team. He has taken advanced-placement classes, which count toward his college education.

Dahl works at Hy-Vee and he has been there for three years. He also shadowed the pharmacist at Hy-Vee, which reinforced his decision to study pharmacy at college. Dahl said he likes pharmacy because he likes helping people and enjoys seeing how things work.

Dahl will attend South Dakota State University in Brookings, he said, because they have a good pharmacy program and it’s close to home.

He said he will probably play intramural sports in college.