KANSAS CITY, KAN. ----- Valerie Stambersky, the winningest women’s basketball coach at Kansas City Kansas Community College, is stepping down after giving the Lady Blue Devil basketball program two of its best years in history.
“My family comes first,” said Stambersky, who commuted from Warrensburg, Mo., the past season after her husband, Damian, joined the Central Missouri State University baseball coaching staff as an assistant last summer.
The couple has two children, a son Taylor, 8; and a daughter Tyler, 5. In addition to her coaching duties, Stambersky served the last two years as Assistant Athletic Director where her responsibilities included overseeing the Communications and Web Design for the Athletic Department website.
Stambersky said her decision to resign was anything but easy.
“I got this job right out of college so this has been my home. I’ve truly enjoyed my years at KCKCC and telling my players I was leaving was the most difficult part. But in the long run it’s the best thing for my family. And I won’t miss later drives home in the snow that turns an hour, 15 minute trip into three hours.”
Stambersky won’t get out of the coaching profession. She has accepted a teaching and an assistant coaching position in the Warrensburg School District starting this fall.
