Big Bend remembers Steve Duncan at celebration of life

MOSES LAKE - Steve Duncan made a distinct impression on those that had the pleasure of meeting him.

He was a great friend as well as a great coach.

Tragically, Duncan passed away on Dec. 2 at the age of 25.

Friends, family, coworkers and his players gathered in the DeVries Activity Center Friday afternoon at a celebration of life to remember Duncan.

Duncan was the head volleyball coach at Big Bend for one year, leading the Vikings to an 18-18 record.

They described his caring nature, inquisitive mind, passion for volleyball and his infamous love of tacos.

Central Washington University head volleyball coach Mario Andaya was in attendance and shared his favorite memories of his time with Duncan as an assistant coach for the Wildcats.

"It's just an amazing deal what he accomplished in his one year as the head coach," he said. "Just a culmination of the great coaches he's been around and the things that he absorbed and he got to at least display in one year."

One of the coaches Duncan spent much of his time around and learned from was West Valley (Yakima) head coach Katie Hinckley.

Hinckley hired Duncan to be West Valley's JV coach after he graduated high school.

"It really truly was one of the best decisions that I had made in my coaching career and for my program," Hinckley said. "Our program wasn't doing very good before Steve came along and as any coach knows you're only as good as your other coaches and he wanted to be surrounded by coaches that are loyal. Steve was very loyal to me and I will always be grateful for that."

Friend and coaching mentor Jesse Stueckle spoke about their shared love of volleyball and science fiction movies. Stueckle also reiterated just how passionate Duncan was for volleyball.

"There's many things I do know about Steve and that's one of them," he said. "I know that he had a passion and a love for volleyball."

The final speaker was sophomore volleyball player Rebecca Egan.

Surrounded by her teammates, Egan shared how Duncan rekindled the older players' love for the sport after a difficult freshman season and told stories about road trips and how close a team can become over the course of a season.

"We were all so blessed to have him as an awesome coach," she said. "He changed us all as players and, as awesome as that is, he changed us as people. He never failed to tell us how much he loved everyone of us as people and as players and it was unconditional."

After Egan had finished speaking, Duncan's final volleyball team broke their huddle for the last time to honor his life.