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Shawn Stimmel has made those sacrifices. His wife has made even more.
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SMU women’s basketball coach Shawn Stimmel, left, and assistant coach Zack Vogelsberg watch during a Cardinal’s game against Augsburg Saturday at SMU Gymnasium in Winona. (Photo by Andrew Link of the Winona Daily News) |
Jessica Stimmel could probably do just about anything she wants and get away with it.
New clothes, new shoes, new car … well, maybe not new car, but she definitely could get away with quite a bit.
Her husband, and
first-year Saint Mary’s University women’s basketball coach, couldn’t hold it against her.
Two days before the Cardinals hosted Augsburg, Jessica Stimmel gave birth to their second child. Labor was induced.
“That was because we have that trip (Wednesday) to Concordia (Moorhead),” Shawn Stimmel said. “We wanted to be safe and make sure I was around.”
Jessica Stimmel doesn’t mind the sacrifices. Her husband is a women’s basketball coach. That’s a lot of babysitters.
“Definitely,” she agreed. “They’re our other family.
“Sometimes it does get hectic, but I am just very supportive of him and 100 percent behind him.”
The Stimmels have two children, 2-year old Caden and newborn Isabella. Both pregnancies were induced.
Caden and his mom try to make most of the home games and even some practices.
“In the game the other night, Saint Mary’s called timeout and Caden said, ‘Mommy, the girls are in a timeout,’” Jessica Stimmel said.
Shawn Stimmel is a family man. His immediate family comes first — minus the road-trip pregnancies. His basketball team a close second.
“If it shows anything, it probably tells them I have poor timing,” coach Stimmel joked of his wife having to be induced.
He’s the new coach in town after leaving a successful
two-year stint at King College, an NAIA program in Tennessee.
There, his first head coaching job and his first women’s job after being a men’s assistant since 1998, Stimmel’s team won 38 games in two years, was ranked in the top 25 in the country and in the top 10 in points per game.
Taking over at SMU has been a challenge for Stimmel, who played basketball for three years at his alma mater, Coe College (Iowa).
“It’s been a bit of an adjustment,” said Stimmel, whose team was 4-8 heading into Monday’s game against Bethel. “We’d like the think things would have progressed quicker, but we’ve talked about how it’s going to be a slow process.
“It may not show on the scoreboard all the time, but we’re getting better.”
Stimmel didn’t get to recruit any players coming into the job at SMU. And he knew little about the team, minus what he could read on the team’s website.
Regardless, the team has become comfortable with him.
“Yeah, we rip on him for being short,” junior forward Jess Weisbrod said of their
5-foot-9 coach.
In return, Stimmel has become comfortable with his new team.
“He calls (Kelly) Tanke and me Dairy Queen for being soft,” Weisbrod said.
But they’re getting better.
“They’re not so soft-serve anymore,” Stimmel joked.
Saint Mary’s women’s basketball: One big happy family.
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SMU wrote on Jan 17, 2007 4:13 PM: