Denise Weinig, who has spent 16 years in the Madison High School girls basketball program (four years as a player, five as an assistant coach, seven as a head coach) has stepped down from the head coaching position after a season where the Warhawks compiled a 26-2 record and won Weinig’s third Liberty District title and advanced to the Northern Region final four for the fourth time in her head coaching career.
For Weinig, the decision came down to what was best for her family.
“People say that when you have a child, everything changes,” said Weinig, who gave birth to her first daughter last summer. “Juggling my schedule and being able to care for my home and my husband, I felt that I needed to change things.”
Weinig, who is already in the Madison High School Hall of Fame, led the Warhawks to seven-straight winning seasons, finishing with a 150-38 lifetime record as a head coach.
“On the court, without a doubt, every time that we played Madison, it was a game and it was going to be a good game,” said Marshall girls head coach Noel Klippenstein. “It was fun to get to know her over the years, going from a single coach, to a married coach, to a married coach with a cute baby girl. It was fun to see her grow up and develop from that aspect.”
<b>WEINIG SAID THAT </b>the decision to leave Madison was a tough one.
“I think that it is not going to truly hit me until next November,” she said. “I have been at Madison for so long. I love it. I love the game and I love working with the girls and my coaching staff.”
Her favorite moment as the head coach of the Warhawks was a recent one – a surprise baby shower thrown by her players last June.
“That was just so surprising to me that they cared in that way about my personal life. This team has seen so many personal changes in my life, in terms of getting engaged and married and having a baby. I feel like they have seen so many changes in me,” said Weinig, before adding, “I can’t say that beating Oakton this year wasn’t fun either.”
While Weinig doesn’t rule out returning to coaching in the future, her focus right now is on her growing family.
“I will miss getting to know these kids. Not having the opportunity to build relationships with the young women, I’ll miss,” she said. “I will miss that competitive side. I definitely have a competitive side to me and I don’t know how that is going to come out.”