Daughter of well-known Wichita area coach charges Andale to state semifinals

Before every match when Kaylie Bergkamp was in high school, she found a note from her mom.

The notes had motivational messages in them to get her set for whatever opponent she was going to play that night. But she wasn’t the only one.

Long-time Garden Plain volleyball coach Gina Clark did it for all of her players. And now, she isn’t the only one.

“I do that for all my players now, too,” Bergkamp said. “I saved those from my mom, and I still have those because they’re valuable to me. I try to do the same thing because I want my girls to feel like I did when I was a player.”

Bergkamp is in her first season as the volleyball coach at Andale, the school across Highway 54 from where her mom still coaches. Even her players said they can see a resemblance between the two programs. And just as her mom’s Owls clinched a spot in the Class 2A semifinals Friday, Bergkamp’s Indians did the same.

“I’d say it’s 99.9 percent the same,” Bergkamp said. “We’re running the same offenses, the same defenses, we go to the same coaching clinics.

“I saw what she had to put into the program behind the scenes. People don’t realize what it takes to make a successful program. I got to see that at home, and I think that’s helped me as a coach.”

Bergkamp said when she got to Andale there were a lot of changes needed. She had won a state championship at Garden Plain in 2008, played at Minnesota-Morris and coached at Hutchinson and Pratt community colleges.

She knew what winning was going to take and went to work. Her players were shell-shocked.

“We knew it was going to be so different because she is just a totally different person,” senior Jaden Eck said.

Bergkamp brought a sort of intense love. The program needed a driver, “someone who could lead us and push us.” But more important, it needed someone to believe in its players, she said.

She installed the C.R.E.W. motto for the 2018 season, which stands for “changing culture, relentless pursuit, embracing the grind and walking the talk.”

To up the intensity even further, Bergkamp still suits up and gets on the court with her players during practice. Senior Madison Lies said it’s fun and scary to see her on the court.

“She would be the best one on our team,” Lies said.

But there was a softer side to match. After the Indians’ first summer tournament, Bergkamp told them, “You are all great athletes. I don’t think anyone has ever told you that.”

They didn’t believe it completely at first, but after repetition, a few notes in the lockers and some high-profile wins, they started to build confidence and buy in.

“She was telling us, ‘You guys are going to go to state this year, you just have to believe in yourselves,’ “ senior Carly Brasser sasid. “We did, and this is where it got us, and it’s an amazing feeling to have a coach that believes in you and makes you believe in yourself.”

The Indians started the season with a 4-1 showing at the Winfield Invitational. They won the Hillsboro Tournament. And they beat Rose Hill, a two-time defending state champion, twice.

It came to a head in the Indians’ sub-state tournament as they beat Circle 25-18, 25-15 to reach the Class 4A state tournament in Hutchinson with a 32-6 record.

“It was bittersweet,” Bergkamp said.

Bergkamp grew up around her mom’s volleyball teams. She was part of them, won on them and watched them win after she left. She couldn’t do that this year.

The Indians started hot at the Class 4A tournament Friday with a straight-set win over Trinity Academy 25-14, 25-13. Andale brought the biggest crowd by nearly double the next largest, and the players fed off that energy. Andale finished the day with a 25-18, 25-20 win over Chanute to finish second in its pool.

Even in the Indians’ second match, a three-set loss to Bishop Miege - the most accomplished program in Kansas history - they brought more energy and showed they can play with any team in the tournament. Senior Paiton Bruce said the crowd kept them in it.

“She has changed the culture and perspective in our school so much,” Bruce said. “She pushed all season long to have the football coaches make sure the players were there.”

They (and 200 other students) were Friday, seven hours before the Indians hosted their first-round playoff game against Halstead. Brasser said the crowd, the wins, even being at state is because of Bergkamp.

“I was coached at state two years ago, and I’ve never felt like this,” Brasser said. “It’s her. That’s what makes this team go.”

For Bergkmap, it’s a little surreal. She was out of coaching just a year ago, working as a teacher at Andale. She got a little burnt out on volleyball.

But when the Indians’ job came available, she couldn’t resist. She applied, and though that meant she won’t get to watch her mom’s team go for its fourth state championship at the Class 2A tournament in Hays, she said she is glad she did.

“Just to see all the changes, everything we‘ve done all year start to pay off, and be 33-7, that’s pretty big,” Bergkamp said.

This story was originally published October 26, 2018 at 4:33 PM.