Congratulations to Coach Kimberly Barth

Congratulations to Coach Kimberly Barth and her Washington Panthers on winning the 2026 Illinois Class 3A State Championship.

Coach Barth is finishing her 10th year coaching. In her first five years, the Panthers won one Regional Championship. In the last five years, Washington has won 5 Regionals and 2 Sectionals. Last year they took 3rd in State to go with this year’s State Championship. 

For her career, Coach Barth is now 247-63 for an unbelievable 80% winning record. 

Two years ago in May of 2024, Coach Barth along with 7 other women coaches shared their motivation for coaching as well as the challenges of coaching. It was part of a series entitled, “Females Coaching Females.”

As a salute to Coach Barth, I am sharing excerpts from her interview about coaching. As you read them, it is easy to understand why her teams have been successful. Her words show both her toughness and her inspirational ability. 

Why did you decide to go into coaching? 

I have loved sports my entire life.  My dad was my coach growing up and he and a few others influenced me to go into coaching and teaching.  His love for the game resonated with me and I knew I wanted to follow in his footsteps.  I also love working with kids, so this is an opportunity to help teach life lessons to kids on the court.

Who were the coaches who inspired you? 

My father, Chris Holdenrid.  Mike Kilmartin (varsity basketball coach), Mike McKeague (asst coach), Sandy Schuster/Karen Sweitzer (college coaches)-females.

What are some of the challenges and rewards of coaching?

I think being a female coach is hard.  I talk about this with male coaches in the building all the time.  As a female, often times you have to carry a larger amount of work outside of work.  Dropping off kids, picking up kids, getting groceries, kids sporting events, cleaning the house, arranging schedules.  I am not saying my husband doesn't or can't do these things, but I feel like they are my responsibility and I want to be present for my kids as well.  I think if we continue to build a culture of strong women doing great things, we can continue to work on this.  It is not for the faint of heart, it's tough-not sugar coating it.  But worth it for my kids to grow up in the gym with my athletes and see their mom accomplish her goals.

I haven't had a lot of female coaches growing up and I feel like I connected with my male coaches.  My biggest role model and influence in being a coach is my dad, and the importance of my daughters seeing me do hard things.  I want them to see mom accomplish hard things and juggle the craziness of life and know they can do the same.  

I feel like I have had the opportunity to support my players not as just their coach but as a mentor, hopefully influencing my players to do hard things as they grow up as well.  I hear so many female coaches that say when they have kids, they're ready to walk away and just be a mom and that's awesome.  I feel like when I became a mom, I wasn't fully ready to walk away and just give up on my dream; I just adjusted it and made my kids gym rats who are now a huge part of my dream too.  

I have enjoyed the challenge of running from place to place, supporting my kids, and being a positive role model for female girls doing hard things in this world.  I hope I am forming relationships with my athletes that encourage them to chase their dreams and never give up when things get hard.

If you are interested, here is the entire series on “Females Coaching Females”…

Females Coaching Females