Sehome selects former assistant to lead girls' basketball program

DAVID RASBACH

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Kim Kirk isn't intimidated by the tradition of excellence for girls' basketball at Sehome High School. In fact, she's played a large role in helping build that standard.

For 12 seasons, Kirk has been an assistant coach, working with head coaches Rick Harden, Mike McKee, Colin Cushman and Ed Wissing to make the Mariners one of the most competitive girls' basketball programs in Whatcom County.

On Friday, July 25, Kirk received the opportunity to put her name alongside those she learned from, as Cushman announced that she had been selected the program's next head coach.

"There's no question in my mind that she's been ready for the job for a long time," said Cushman, the Mariners' athletic director.

This is not the first time Kirk, who teaches social studies at Sehome, has led a varsity program at the school. She also was the softball head coach from 1999 to 2003. Kirk took a year off from coaching softball to pursue her master's degree, but said she is ready to enter her fifth season as an assistant on Jim Emerson's staff this spring.

Kirk said she knows leading the girls' basketball program will have different challenges.

"I think the biggest challenge is going to be living up to the tradition," Kirk said in a phone interview. "Girls' basketball at Sehome has a longstanding tradition of success - long before I came on as an assistant. We need to continue that tradition with hard work and teaching the kids what it takes to be successful."

If anybody is prepared to continue that tradition, which includes five trips to the state tournament in the past six seasons, Cushman said he believes it is Kirk.

"You name it, she adds it to the program," Cushman said in a phone interview. "She's a hard worker, she's very knowledgeable about the game and she works really well with the kids. She's a teacher on our staff, so she understands how to teach kids."

But according to Kirk, successful coaches aren't just good teachers, they're also good students - something she said she learned while working with Cushman and McKee as an assistant.

"They're both such students of the game," Kirk said. "They've taught me how important it is to go to coaching clinics to learn about the game and how to teach it ... Colin really showed me how important it is to prepare for each game by scouting. He showed me the importance of breaking down film and being as prepared as you can as a coach to help your players prepare for every situation that may come up."

Kirk was a three-sport athlete at Wenatchee High School before graduating in 1993. She attended Western Washington University and played varsity softball in 2004 and '05 before graduating with a degree in heath education.

She takes over the position from Wissing, whom she was an assistant coach with last season. Wissing leaves to coach the Shorecrest girls' basketball program after two seasons with the Mariners, in which he led the team to a combined 35-18 record, two Class 2A state tournament appearances and a fourth-place finish in 2007.

Sehome returns only one starter from last year's team that went 15-11 and suffered two heart-breaking losses at state, but Kirk said she expects to get plenty of help from returning assistant coach Stacey Terrell, who led the junior varsity program last year.

"We will have a target on our back just because we'll be wearing the name 'Sehome,' " Kirk said. "But graduating four players will definitely leave us with some big shoes to fill. We have several kids coming back with experience who have been to the state tournament. I think they're ready to continue the tradition here at Sehome."

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POSTED: Friday, Jul. 25, 2008

Sehome selects former assistant to lead girls' basketball program

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