This story is sponsored by Victory Apparel
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – Veteran girls basketball coach Heidi Michaelis has resigned her position at Marshfield High School, finishing off a stellar 17-year career leading the Tigers.
Michaelis ends her tenure at Marshfield with a program-record 305-103 record, which includes nine 20-win seasons, eight Wisconsin Valley Conference championships, 11 sectional appearances, and four berths in the WIAA State Girls Basketball Tournament. She picked up her 300th career victory last season with a home win against Wisconsin Rapids in January.
Michaelis said it just felt like the right time to step away from coaching and focus more on her children. Her youngest daughter, Maddie, was a freshman on this past year’s team, and her oldest daughter, Caitlin, will be a senior on the University of Minnesota-Crookston women’s basketball team next fall. Her son, Grant, just finished his freshman year at the University of Minnesota.
“I always thought I would coach through Maddie (her senior year) but it felt like it was time,” Michaelis said. “I loved every second this year and whether I left now or in 10 years, I always knew I was going to miss a lot about it. I love going to the gym, love the groups I’ve been with.
“It takes a toll. It’s all-consuming for me, it’s not just a hobby. There’s just stuff that goes along with coaching and it takes a toll on you after a while. Caitlin’s going to be a senior and I only saw two of her games in person last year, and that bothered me. Part of me just wants to be a fan and a mom.”
Michaelis had only two seasons in which her teams did not finish above .500 – her first year in 2001-02 (7-15) and this past season. Despite finishing 12-13 in 2018, the Tigers made a run to the sectionals again.
“I can honestly say coaching was the best experience of my life,” Michaelis said. “It has been so rewarding, and so exciting. There were so many memories and kids that I will never forget. I feel good with what all the teams have accomplished in the last 17 years. I’m at peace with it.
“I want to thank the community for all of the support and encouragement I’ve received over the last 17 years. There were so few experiences that were not good. It’s one of those cool things that I can take away from it.”
Michaelis was inducted into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2013, honoring her standout playing career at Prentice High School. She went on to play at Miami University in Ohio, ending her career in 1993 third on the school’s all-time assists list with 341.
Eight years later she took over the Marshfield program and in 2004, her third season as head coach, led the Tigers to the state tournament for the first time since 1977.
Marshfield went on to play at state three more times, in 2006, 2008 and 2009, reaching the semifinals once, in 2006, before losing on a late three-point play to Waterford in the final minute.
Seven other times Michaelis saw her team’s season end in the sectionals, and those losses are still tough to swallow.
“When you have a team come together and put together a great tournament run, and it ends in a state trip, there is nothing better as a high school coach,” Michaelis said. “I also had some horrible losses that ended in the opposite way, losing in the sectional finals. To go through something together, either that was really good or ended in heartbreak, it all just makes me feel so lucky to have coached them.
“Being with all of these kids through the year, you know that they are going to be contributing members of society. I hear from them and see a lot of them, and they are. The experience working with them was great.”
Michaelis coached a number of players that went on to play on the collegiate level, including her daughter Caitlin, and 11 of the top 15 all-time leading scorers in program history played under her tutelage.
“Our community has been very fortunate to have Heidi Michaelis leading our girls basketball program for 17 years,” Marshfield High School athletic director Nathan DeLany said. “She has positively impacted girls basketball in our community, and her teams were prepared and served as role models for our young aspiring basketball players.
“Coach Michaelis’ determination, belief in her players, and basketball intellect reshaped Marshfield basketball in which others in Central Wisconsin now compare themselves to. We are grateful for her years of service, sacrifice, and determination to bring a winning tradition on the court, in the classroom, and in life for young girls in Marshfield.”