Dave Stahl was a player for the Huron All Stars until 1975.  Dave’s hockey experience was aided by Good Samaritans who helped cover the costs of hockey when he could not.  In 2021, Dave passed away from a terminal illness but not before he and his friends worked to start a fund to help diminish financial hurdles for kids to play hockey.  Dave’s goal is for all youth is to be able to be involved in hockey and to be an “All-Star”.

Dave’s friends and others have been and continue to plan to sustain the fund for many years to come.   SDAHA will continue to accept financial support and donations in support of this fund into the future.

As of 12/31/23, twenty separate players from 7 different associations within SDAHA have received support so far from the Dave Stahl All Star Fund.  Over $7,000 in funds have been granted to date to help these "All Stars"!

The Dave Stahl All Star Fund has been established to help financially disadvantaged players wanting to participate in the sport of Hockey.  Below are 2 documents to help navigate the process of applying for funds.  The First Document helps in "Getting Started" with the Process as well as what you can expect.  The Second Document is the "Dave Stahl All Star Fund Application" which is needed make the formal request.

Donations to the fund will be accepted on an ongoing basis using any of the following  ways.

1) Donations can be mailed to SDAHA using the following address.   Please include a note indicating the funds are for the Dave Stahl All Star Fund.  Please mail to:  SDAHA, PO Box 1683, Watertown SD 57201.

2) Online Donations can be made using the "Register" link below.

3) Delayed Gifts (named beneficiaries on Life Insurance Policies, Investment Accounts, IRAs etc) can be arranged as well.  Please email sdahadirector@outlook.com to discuss these options further!

How ever you choose to support the fund, SDAHA and those who knew Dave Stahl thank you for your support!

Dave Stahl is noted in the picture above as he posed with his fellow Huron All Stars teammates.

If you have any other pictures of Dave Stahl you would like to share, please contact Jenni Wirkus, SDAHA Executive Director at sdahadirector@outlook.com.

 By: Curt Nettinga of The Plainsman (published in 2021)

HURON — A scholarship fund has been established with the S.D. Amateur Hockey Association, with the purpose of assisting players to meet financial needs and it bears the name of one of the best players to ever lace up skates for the Huron All-Stars hockey team.  It’s called the Dave Stahl All-Star Fund and information on how to donate to the fund can be found at the end of this story. The fund is set up to help hockey players with assistance for camps, equipment or registration costs, so that they can enjoy the game as much as the person whose name graces it did.

Through the SDAHA meeting early in May, a total of $3,825 had been donated to the fund. Stahl, who lives in Omaha, has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and his friends, family and former teammates set up the fund to leave a legacy in his name for young hockey players, so that every kid has an opportunity to believe in themselves and to improve their skills.

In its infancy, hockey in South Dakota included teams from Minnesota. Huron’s All-Stars won their first title in 1972, then watched a team from Marshall, Minn., take the next two championships. But in the 1975 season, Huron was led by a deep group of seasoned senior players, led by Stahl. The All-Stars ended the regular season with a record of 7-1,  the S.D. Conference title and the top seed in the state tournament, which was held on the home ice, outdoors, on the S.D. State Fairgrounds.

“I remember that team for sure,” said Mike Stoley, who played hockey in Huron and was a freshman that season. “I played on the varsity as an eighth-grader, as Dave did when he was in eighth grade.”

Huron won its semifinal game and faced the Britton Bruins for the state title. Merl Wolff of Britton scored the first three goals of the game; two of which were assisted by his twin brother Brett.

“So, we’re in the locker room - which was really this wood hut in the freezing cold,” Stoley said. “We’re behind 3-0 and one of my classmates, another junior level player, got up and made a somewhat disparaging remark about Merl Wolff’s girlfriend and then laughed about it.”.  Stoley said that Stahl got up and “tore us a new one.” He said that the mood in the locker room immediately changed as Stahl’s response galvanized and focused the team to go back out and play at Stahl’s level of intensity.  Which it did.

Huron scored seven goals in the second period. Stahl scored four of them, in seven-and-a-half minutes of play and led the All-Stars to a 7-3 lead with one period to go. Merl Wolff scored three more goals, but it was too-little, too late, as Huron’s Greg Starnes scored an insurance goal for the All-Stars with 10 minutes to play and Huron hoisted the championship trophy after the 8-6 win. Starnes scored twice in the game, both assisted by Stahl.

“That was Dave,” said Jim Moores, who also played with the All-Stars through much of his high school years. “He was a leader and boy was he a goal scorer; that’s what he did. He was like the Wayne Gretzky for Huron; the guy who could always get a shot.”  Moores said that he and Stahl were in the same grade in school and played together from the time that Moores’ family moved to Huron from the Chicago area in 1969, and bringing the idea of the All-Stars with him from his previous team. Both were members of the 1972 championship team, although Moores moved with his family during the summer prior to his senior year, and he missed the title run in ’75. “But we had a lot of fun playing together,” Moores said

The Dave Stahl All Star Fund is administered by SDAHA, as will the applications and disbursement of funds. Donations may be made via check to SDAHA and sent to: SDAHA, c/o Dave Stahl All Star Fund, PO Box 1683, Watertown, SD 57201.