By ROY HESS | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
Playing and coaching basketball has been a major part of Kim Edquist’s life.
She wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Now the recently retired Los Fresnos girls basketball coach is soon to become a Hall of Famer.
Edquist made a name for herself as a forward/guard at Laredo United (1976-79) and at Pan American University (1980-83) as a point guard before graduating from Pan Am in 1983. She started to coach in the mid-1980s. After stints at Weslaco High (sub-varsity) and La Joya High (sub-varsity and interim varsity head coach), Edquist’s coaching career flourished and produced 528 victories, 17 trips to the state playoffs and seven district championships in 27 seasons at Los Fresnos.
Overall, she coached 33 years before retiring after the 2016-17 school year at Los Fresnos, where her record guiding the Lady Falcons was 528-344 (.606 winning percentage).
On Saturday, Edquist will be inducted into the Rio Grande Valley Sports Hall of Fame at the organization’s 31st annual banquet at Boggus Ford Events Center in Pharr.
“I’m very honored,” she said. “If it wasn’t for all the players, the (assistant) coaches and administrators I’ve had, I wouldn’t be here (being inducted).”
Counting Edquist, there are 10 inductees comprising the RGV Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2018.
Listed with their hometowns or city of their accomplishments, the other inductees include Tony Villarreal III of Brownsville, Sammy Montalvo of Brownsville, Steve Alaniz of Edinburg, Roland Ingram of Harlingen, Phil Danaher of Calallen, Rose Marie Lefner White of Lyford and Becky Dube Thomas of McAllen. Also, to be inducted posthumously are Joe Mancha of McAllen and John Tripson of Mission.
Saturday’s event begins with an informal reception for the inductees at 4 p.m. followed by a catered meal at 5 p.m. and the program at 6 p.m. Banquet tickets are no longer available for purchase.
Regarding her coaching career, Edquist said, “I’ve always kind of considered myself as a guidance counselor, really. I’ve tried to help students get through that next step (in life) that they’re going to take. It’s never been about coaching or having the (winning) numbers, district titles or anything like that. It’s been more about (imparting) life’s lessons.
“It’s always been about the students,” she added. “They come in (to high school) as kids and they leave as young women and young men. It’s such a great thing to watch them grow up and become adults. They always made me feel young being around them, and now I’m starting to feel old (as a retiree and) not being around them.
“I guess this is part of a life lesson (for me) in getting this honor,” she added. “It will be something that’s with me for the rest of my life, so I’m very grateful.”
At Los Fresnos, Edquist’s teams recorded seasons of 20 or more wins 13 times and posted two campaigns with at least 30 victories. Her best season came in 2011-12 when the Lady Falcons went 31-5.
Under the veteran coach, the Lady Falcons advanced to the regional tournament in 2000, reached the regional quarterfinals three other times and achieved four bi-district championships. She had a career record of 245-114 in district competition at Los Fresnos and her teams went 14-17 in the postseason.
Edquist recorded her 500th career win on Dec. 16, 2015, in a 70-44 victory against Lopez.
One of Edquist’s closest friends and a fellow coach throughout her entire time at Los Fresnos is Becky Woods, a veteran volleyball coach who was inducted into the RGV Sports Hall of Fame in 2016. Edquist attended the banquet honoring Woods two years ago, and now it’s the retired basketball coach’s turn to be recognized.
Woods, who begins her 34th season of directing the Lady Falcons volleyball team in August, is looking forward to seeing her longtime friend honored.
“As a coach, Kim loved the job of coaching at the high school level,” Woods said. “She was a very motivated, knowledgeable and hard-working individual who built a basketball program at Los Fresnos with more than two decades of winning teams. She was very well-respected by the administration, the community, our coaching staffs and the student-athletes everywhere. I think the one thing that really stood out to me was her personality and the way she could relate to the kids.
“As a friend, I couldn’t have asked for a better person to work with,” Woods added. “We worked side by side for 27 years. Those were 27 exceptional years and I miss her (being at school) every day. I love her with all my heart and I wish her nothing but the best in her retirement. I congratulate her on this induction into the RGV Hall of Fame.”
Edquist responded by saying, “For 27 years we’ve had each other’s backs. It’s really great to work with people like that.”
Edquist is a native of Iowa as is Woods. As a youth, Edquist moved with her family from Iowa to El Paso for two years and then to Laredo, where she spent her middle and high school years. She played basketball and ran track throughout high school while earning all-district honors. As a senior, she joined the volleyball team at United in 1978, became a starter and helped the Lady Longhorns advance to the UIL state tournament.
“Sports came easy to me, but not because I was that good,” Edquist said. “I always had to work hard (to do well). Playing sports was like my second skin. (Without sports) it got to be a little boring in Laredo.”
Originally, becoming a coach wasn’t part of her plan while in high school.
“I actually never had an idea I would be a coach,” Edquist said. “I always wanted to be near the water (gulf) and be an oceanographer or a marine biologist or something like that. There was a big demand (for that occupation) at the time when I was a freshman (at United), but four years later, as I was graduating, I looked into it again and there was no demand at all and no jobs were out there, so I looked at something else, which was playing basketball at Pan Am. That’s what gave me the bug (to coach).”
Whether she was playing or coaching sports, Edquist always wanted to do the right thing, which was a character quality she learned from her parents, Keith and Peggy Mynatt. Edquist’s mother died in 2002 and her father now lives within walking distance of the former coach’s home in Laguna Vista. He recently experienced some health concerns and that appears to be at least one of the reasons Edquist considered retirement.
“As a coach, one thing I preached every year was we would never cheat,” Edquist said. “I tried to instill in my teams that we were going to work hard. We might lose, and if we did lose, we were going to lose the right way by following the rules. I think my players respected me for doing that. That’s part of learning life’s lessons.”
One of Edquist’s coaching trademarks was her ability to give an unmistakable whistle in a shrill, loud tone that always captured the attention of her players in a game or during practice. It was a whistle never to be ignored.
“It seems that when I whistle, my players and former players will always turn around and say, ‘What’s up, coach?’” Edquist said.
Edquist said she has given it a lot of thought and has decided her final season in 2016-17 was the one that stands out the most. That was the school year her daughter Lindsay was with her as an assistant coach. Lindsay played for the Lady Falcons before graduating in 2009. She continues to be an assistant girls basketball coach at Los Fresnos and also coaches other sports.
And when singling out people to thank, Edquist starts with her parents.
“My mom and dad were super big supporters for me,” she said. “They always supported me in whatever I did.”
Edquist has mixed feelings about Saturday, especially when it comes to giving an acceptance speech.
“Like I said, I’m honored, but I would just like Saturday to be over,” she said. “I’m not one to get up before people and speak. I’m a little nervous and I’m not sure what to say. I’ve got about two sentences written (of my speech), so that’s a start. I would just say that I’ve been blessed.”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess