Teresa Waldinger will never forget the day she was named West Aurora’s girls basketball coach.
Waldinger was informed on Friday, April 13 she would be succeeding Connie Siljendahl, who had announced her retirement after 13 seasons.
Waldinger has been the Blackhawks’ sophomore coach for the past 14 years. Her current players gathered to greet Waldinger upon hearing the news, filled with excitement.
“It was really sweet to see this mass of girls there, just screaming and hugging in the hallway,” Waldinger said. “It was very touching to see that.”
Waldinger wants to be the “hardest-working team on any floor.” She also plans on implementing an up-tempo style.
Those are two pillars both Waldinger and West Aurora athletic director Jason Buckley hope to hang the program’s hat on.
“Her passion for the program really shined through in this process,” Buckley said of Waldinger. “She’s demonstrated over all these years that not only is she committed to the program, but she’s very high-energy.
“When you talk to girls who played for her, they come back years later and she’s one of the first people they seek out. That says a lot.”
Waldinger also hopes to build upon the foundation of good vibes and feelings put in place by Siljendahl.
The two coaches had a relationship of trust and transparency, according to Waldinger, and routinely would go to each other for insight and advice.
“She’s been so supportive,” Waldinger said of Siljendahl. “She wrote me a beautiful letter of recommendation, just saying that at the end of the day, it’s my team so I have to follow my gut.
“I think we’re in that honeymoon stage right now, but it’s all about to get real. Amazing things are going to happen, and I just have to trust myself.”
West Aurora finished with 19 wins in 2017-18, which tied the 2007-08 and 2013-14 teams for the most single-season victories in Siljendahl’s 13 years.
The 2017-18 season ended with a heartbreaking loss in the Class 4A Oswego East Regional semifinal. The host Wolves rallied from a 22-point deficit to knock off the favored Blackhawks.
“I’ve been with the program a long time, and this is the first opportunity I’ve had to really take the reins,” Waldinger said. “I just really wish the season wasn’t so far away.”
Rich Mayor is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.