Iowa Mennonite School’s Heusinkveld wins award

The Iowa Girls Coaches Association has recognized an area coach for rebuilding a program.

Kari Heusinkveld, Iowa Mennonite School's head girls basketball coach, was named a recipient of the E. Wayne Cooley 'You Can” Award. This award is presented annually by the Iowa Girls Coaches Association, in recognition of demonstrated character and leadership in the sport of basketball.

'It's neat to get this recognition both for myself and for our program,” Heusinkveld said. 'It means we're taking steps in the right direction both on and off the court.”

IMS had a double-digit win total this year, finishing 10-11.

The IGCA website says the purpose of the award is to 'recognize a coach, especially early in their career, who is successful in building their varsity program.”

It was the first time a double-digit win total had been achieved by IMS since the 2013-14 team was 14-10. The following year was 5-18, then a season of 1-19 was followed by 0-19. The 2017-18 team was 5-17. Heusinkveld just completed her fourth year at the helm.

'I have been very fortunate to coach the kids I have, they make it all worth it,” Heusinkveld said. 'Having the opportunity to coach at IMS has been such a blessing in my life and I look forward to the years ahead.”

THE IGCA's criteria is that the coach must show the elements of good character (trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship). The varsity coach must have completed a successful rejuvenation of their program or is successfully building their program into a winning program.

'Kari does a great job of building a sense of team and positive culture within the basketball program,” IMS principal and athletic director Dwight Gingerich said. 'She and her staff work hard to help each player develop their skills and their roles. Kari's enthusiasm is contagious, she instills confidence and she demonstrates care for each player. We are grateful for Kari's efforts and excited for the future of IMS girls basketball under her leadership.”

The IMS girls have obviously improved under Heusinkveld's guidance. A great example is the first and last games of this past season. IMS lost to Lynville-Sully 75-30 at home in the season opener. In the postseason, the same two teams met and it was only a 56-42 defeat.

All-State guard Suzanna Yoder scored 24 points for IMS in the opener. She had 20 in the season ender, which speaks to the improvement of the players around her.