School: Neillsville - Coach Gaier Celebrates 500th Win (2023)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Gaier, Koepp

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 2/22/2023

Neillsville Coach Gaier Celebrates 500th Win (2023)

The district administrator for the Neillsville School District and head coach of the girls’ varsity basketball team, John Gaier, broke 500 wins with the Feb. 7 game against Colby High School.

“This is an award that is shared with so many others,” Gaier said. “First and foremost it was earned by the efforts and talents of every player I have ever had the privilege to coach. They are the ones that deserve the vast majority of any special recognition that comes with this award. None of this happens without their commitment to being the best that they could be.”

Despite the number of players in the program having gone down between seasons, Gaier made up for the lack of numbers by rotating in members of the junior varsity (JV) team into varsity games, usually after the JV Warriors had just played a game that night.

“Winning is hard,” Gaier stated, “and I am humbled by the dedication and hard work that my players have for the game of basketball and for each other.”

Gaier is a Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame coach, who entered his 26th year as a head coach in 2023, and 21st as the Warriors’.

Through this career, Gaier stands with a 430-71 record. He guided Neillsville to all six of the program’s state tournament appearances, including taking home the Division 4 state title in 2012.

“This award is also shared with all of the assistant coaches and community members that have worked so hard to help make our program successful,” Gaier said. “They don’t always get the recognition that they deserve, but none of this would be accomplished without their help. It is also shared with our community of fans who turn out to support our kids. I know our kids do their best to make the community proud.”

In the 2021-22 season, Gaier led the team to end the season 26-3, having advanced to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association State Tournament. Due to that, the Warriors were the early favorite starting out the 2022-23 season. Currently, the Warriors stand undefeated ahead of the tournament.

This year alone, the Warriors were predicted to finish first of the Cloverbelt East teams, and three of the ten ‘players to watch’ came from the Warriors.

“Last, but certainly not least,” Gaier said, “none of this could’ve been achieved without the support of my family. Coaching takes a lot of time, and a coach’s family has to sacrifice a lot in order to allow their spouse/dad/grandpa to put in the time it takes to build a team, and help support the kids of others to be successful.

“The bottom line is that I have been incredibly blessed to have great players, supportive parents of players, assistant coaches, school board members, and community members for a very long time in Neillsville. I also never forget that I am most blessed with a loving and supportive family. So proud of all of this to happen in our Neillsville community.”

The team faced an especially hard blow when their teammate, Abby Koepp, was diagnosed with leukemia. Despite this, Gaier kept their morale high, and the Warriors netted victory after victory through the season under his guidance and the mounting experience of both new and veteran players.

“My message to the kids every year is pretty simple: ‘Play as hard and as smart as you possibly can for the good of your teammates.’ This is the ultimate team game and you have to learn to play together in order to have success.

“I also tell them that nothing great is accomplish without hard work. We have had great kids that have committed to doing those things. I am blessed to have this year’s group of kids, and all the great kids that I’ve had in the past. The award is really theirs.”