The very mention of it makes Becca Bestul’s eyes light up and an invigorating level of excitement enter her voice.
Chi-Hi girls basketball.
The former Cardinal standout and 2000 graduate has always loved her alma mater. Now the long-time UW-Eau Claire women’s basketball assistant coach will return home as she takes over the program for John Pollock.
The chance to return and coach in Chippewa Falls was one she couldn’t pass up.
Bestul was a three-year varsity player for the Cardinals in the late 90s, earning All-Chippewa County team recognition on three occasions including a first-team selection as a junior.
The present-day Cardinal program has won at least a share of five consecutive Big Rivers Conference championships. But wins were hard to come by for Bestul and the Cardinals during her sophomore season, a year the team went 1-19. Under first-year coach Jeff Olson, the team took its lumps. But gains were found in places other than the final score. The Cardinal Flight youth basketball program was in its infancy and the seeds of what would become a consistent contender were planted during Bestul’s high school career.
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“I was fortunate enough to have been able to watch Becca as a student and as an athlete in her days as a Cardinal. I can’t think of anyone I would rather have working with our student athletes,” Chi-Hi principal and interim athletic director Becky Davis said. “Becca is intelligent, skilled and will outwork anyone. She will be demanding and at the same time compassionate. Becca will teach our kids how to be mentally tough, how to persevere, and how to bring out the best in each other.”
The program won eight games in her junior season in 1998-99 and improved to 13 wins in 1999-2000, a year that was cut short for Bestul due to a torn ACL.
Following her high school career, Bestul went on to play at UW-Eau Claire and ranks in the top-20 in school history in blocked shots (7th), free throws made (14th), field goal percentage (16th), total field goals (17th), scoring (18th) and total rebounds (18th). She was the second leading scorer for the Blugolds squad that advanced to the Division III Women’s College Basketball Final Four, falling in the semifinals in overtime to Eastern Connecticut before defeating the University of Rochester (N.Y.) for third place.
She was also a Josten’s National Player of the Year Finalist, Academic All-American, Honorable Mention All-American and Judy Kruckman WIAC Scholar Athlete during her collegiate career.
“Becca has been very, very significant in our program because she was a great player, but she also stayed as a student-coach and an assistant coach for a long time,” UW-Eau Claire coach Tonja Englund said. “It’s exciting to see her go now and be a head coach. That’s what you do as a head coach is you mentor your assistant coaches to get them ready.”
After graduating from UW-Eau Claire, Bestul remained connected to the program as an assistant coach as well as spending the last 11 years as a science teacher at Eau Claire North.
It was a job opening as an Advance Placement Biology teacher at Chi-Hi that first drew Bestul’s attention back home, where her husband Mike is a teacher in the district as well as the head track and field coach and an assistant football coach.
She soon learned of the girls basketball coach opening and was later selected as the program’s new coach in April.
It was a perfect storm that led Bestul back to where it began.
“It worked out perfectly,” Bestul said. “It all came together and I wasn’t necessarily looking for the job but when it came open that opportunity just dropped into my lap, this is the perfect opportunity and I’m so excited. The only place I would’ve left here (UW-Eau Claire) for, because I love assistant coaching here, the only place I would’ve left here for is Chippewa.”
Since taking over as coach, she’s spent her time getting up to speed on the program and the players in it. Chi-Hi went 16-8 last season, the sixth consecutive season the Cardinals won at least 16 games.
“You can’t walk into a better situation,” Bestul said. “The kids are all dedicated; a good group of kids. It’s a supportive hometown and I know that from going there.”
Bestul said that Englund and Olson are her biggest coaching influences. She has a strong focus on fundamentals and defense, two facets that have long been the calling cards for the Cardinals.
“I would describe myself as intense as a coach,” Bestul said. “I’m going to demand a lot out of my players, but in a way that they know that I care about them. I think as a coach one of the most important things is you have to make sure your kids know that you care and know that you love them and that you’ll do anything for them. But at the same time, demand the highest they can get out of them.
“I want to have high expectations for that group. That’s a group that has some talent in it and they still have a ways to go and I want them to see that they could be good, but it’s going to take some work to get there. But we’re starting in a good place.”
Bestul also plans on being closely involved with the Cardinal Flight youth program, working with the coaches at all levels and said she wants her high school players to be involved in teaching the Cardinals of tomorrow how to play.
During her time as an assistant under Englund, the rally cry ‘Pretty Good is Pretty Bad’ has been a common teaching point from the longtime Blugold coach. It’s one Bestul plans on integrating into her Chi-Hi program.
“(The motto means) we’re not going to be pretty good, we’re going to get to excellent and you can’t do that without that extra work and desire and motivation to get to that point,” Bestul said.
As a youngster, Bestul was a part of helping to grow the Chi-Hi program into the consistent winner it is today. Now as its coach, she’ll look to take it to the next level and her longtime mentor has no doubt she’s the right person for the job.
“She’s always been passionate about her hometown,” Englund said. “She’s always been passionate about her high school. I think the Chippewa Falls players are so fortunate to have such a tremendous role model take over the program and I think they’re going to hit the ground running because she understands the community, she understands the school. She’s going to be a teacher there and contribute in so many ways.”