Dragon for Life
Daugherty bleeds orange for alma mater
Clinton Lady Dragons head basketball Coach Alicia Daugherty was a two-sport athlete at Clinton. Until last year, she was the all-time leading scorer for the Lady Dragons (photo:Tony Cox )
“I’m a Dragon for life,” said Daugherty, who recently began her 10th season as Clinton High School girls basketball coach. “I had the chance to teach in the Maryville School District, but when I got the chance to teach and coach at Clinton, I couldn’t turn it down.
“I bleed orange and black.”
Daugherty, a two-sport athlete for the Lady Dragons during her playing days, starred on both the hardwood and the softball diamond.
In basketball, Daugherty, who now also teaches math at CHS, was a four-year starter.
She left Clinton as the Lady Dragons’ all-time leading scorer with 1,674 career points, a record that was recently broken by Sarah Burton. She was an all-District 3-AAA standout in both softball and basketball.
A four-year starter and three-time all-district performer in both sports, Daugherty was also her class valedictorian in 2005. On the diamond, she recorded a .395 batting average and was a four-year starter at shortstop. She amassed 157 hits and 124 stolen bases.
After high school, she played softball at the University of Tennessee for co-head coaches Ralph and Karen Weekly.
After a stint with the Lady Vols, Daugherty switched schools.
“I transferred to Maryville, where I could play both softball and basketball,” said Daugherty, who once served as Clinton High’s softball coach as well as Clinton Middle’s girls basketball coach.
Sports have always been a huge part of Daugherty’s life.
“I had an older brother, and that’s how I learned to love sports, love both softball and basketball,” she said. “I grew up playing at Lakefront and Jaycee Park. I played both softball and basketball, but I really loved basketball.”
She always had the desire to be an educator and a coach.
“I teach math and I coached basketball at Clinton Middle School and I coached softball here,” Daugherty said. “I feel like that’s what God has called me to do.
“God has instilled in me the desire to help people, and if I didn’t have the game of basketball, I would have to find another way to help others.”
Daugherty said that her father, Steve Brown, was always her mentor. Her former assistant coach, he recently passed away, leaving a huge void for his daughter.
“He was always a big part of my life,” she said. “I remember having workouts with Dad. He passed away in the last year, and this is the first time that I couldn’t pick up the phone and call him. I really miss that and I really miss him. It’s been a hard year for sure.”
Clinton is a city and a community that has a passionate and supportive fan base, and Daugherty relishes the support from the Dragons fans.
“I don’t think you have a better fan base anywhere than you do in Clinton,” she said.
Clinton’s supportive community has given Clinton City Schools the opportunity to have a school-sanctioned elementary athletics program.
The Clinton Blaze provides a chance for elementary student athletes to compete.
The program, which was initiated by E.T. Stamey a few years back, gives the city’s three elementary schools (Clinton, North Clinton and South Clinton) the chance to compete against other elementary and middle school athletes throughout East Tennessee.
But The Blaze emphasizes more than just athletics.
Athletes are encouraged to participate in community service, and the student-athletes and coaches must exhibit sportsmanship and be compliant with high academic and citizenship standards.
The Blaze teams wear orange and black, and the Blaze moniker is a takeoff on the Dragons, as the elementary school-age student-athletes will become Dragons.
And Daugherty is a staunch supporter of the Blaze program.
“It gives the kids the chance to wear the Clinton ‘C’ at an early age,” she said.
