EDWARDSVILLE - Kaylie Gudka was appointed head coach of the Edwardsville High School girls basketball team during the off-season and has gotten off to a good start with a young team. She has been very impressed with her team's hard work thus far and its willingness to learn.
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Gudka came to the Tigers from Grantsville, Utah, where she was an assistant coach for the boys team, and was promoted to head coach in 2023-24. Before that, she was a graduate assistant at Texas Women's University for three seasons.
In her first season at Edwardsville, she's expecting good things ahead for the Tigers.
"Absolutely," Gudka said. "We are a young team, and that's the funny part about being a young team is learning and growing together. I think everyone has absolutely bought into each other. I couldn't be more thankful for the buy-in from every one of these girls. I am very excited about what's ahead for everyone of them. I think we have a lot of points of attack, our inside game's good, our outside game's good, and when we really lean on each other, good things happen."
Gudka came to St. Louis when her husband's job transferred the family to the area 18 months ago. She's very much enjoying coaching in Illinois, with its long tradition of basketball excellence.
"Yes, absolutely," Gudka said. "Coaching in Illinois has been so fun. The style of play is awesome. I coached boys before this, and so, being back on the girls' side has been a really good treat. A really special treat."
The Denver-area native has moved around quite a bit with her coaching career. Her coaching gig with the boys' team at Grantsville was very much fun.
"But I'm excited to be back on the side, where I grew up playing," Gudka said.
Gudka will get a taste of coaching in the always competitive Southwestern Conference, long considered one of the best high school leagues south of Chicago.
"It is the best conference to play in, and I am very fortunate that I get to go to battle with these girls night after night in this conference," she said. "It's tough, it's challenging, but we just have to rise to the occasion night after night."
After a usually close game in the SWC, it's been said it's just another night in the Southwestern Conference. It's something Gudka is looking ahead to.
"Yeah, exactly," Gudka said with a smile. "This road doesn't get easier; it gets tougher. But that's what's good. Some of these losses are going to keep us moving forward, and learning more from these losses than we do from a win, that's for sure."
The legacy of excellence from the program, and upholding it, is something Gudka is also looking forward to.
"You know, the legacy that's been created here is truly incredible," the very personable Gudka said. "I really want to push forward and continue to grow and shine in the name of Edwardsville, so I couldn't be more thankful for that. Thankful for this opportunity."
