Girls and women's basketball 'icon' Terri Ward announces her coaching retirement

Prior to Niwot's season finale on March 5, girls basketball head coach Terri Ward shed a few tears while completing her routine sweep of the gym floor. Ward had been doing the same monotonous chore before home games for almost 30 years, but with her decision to retire following this one, it dawned on her that this would be her last time.

"It's hard to stop being what defines you or who you are and I think this does, because this is who I am, this is what I've done," Ward said. "And to leave Niwot, I've been (here) since 1972, that's hard."

It may have been a small yet important task that moved Ward, but her contributions to both Niwot and to girls basketball in Colorado have been substantial.

A member of Niwot High School's inaugural four-year graduating class of 1976, Ward returned to her alma-mater in 1982 to help coach girls volleyball. In 1985, she moved up to the college level and was director of basketball operations at the University of Colorado Boulder under Ceal Berry until 1991. Her career shifted again in 1989 when she began the first of two stints leading the Niwot girls basketball team. After an initial retirement in 2010 which coincided with her retirement from teaching, she came back in 2013 for another eight seasons of what accumulated to 28 years at the helm.

"I know I bleed red, but it's green," Ward said. "I'm a pretty loyal person and it would have never felt right to come back for round two and not be here. It's going to take a little bit of sinking in."

Ward's career included 303 wins at Niwot while pioneering an era of growth for girls sports in Colorado. For approximately 20 years, she has been the President of the Colorado Coaches for Girls Sports (CCGS) organization, which helps provide opportunities for high school girls in sport.

She is also on the Board of Directors for Sportswomen of Colorado and was named to the Colorado High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 2019.. In the early summer, she helps facilitate trials for the USA women's basketball team which included a trip to the 1996 Olympics.

"She's done so many incredible things for not just Niwot High School but for women in sport from her work with CCGS and helping through the early times of girls playing athletics to today," said Niwot Athletic Director Joe Brown. "She's just been an icon, not only in our building but in several other buildings, and I know because of Terri's work that girls have gotten more opportunities."

Even in her final coaching appearance, Ward's passion for the game and her players was evident as she paced the sidelines in her familiar, stoic manner. For nearly three decades that same passion has impacted the lives of countless others.

Mary Gillett, who graduated from Niwot in 2018 and is now a junior on Stanford University's track and field team, played basketball under Ward for four seasons.

"Coach Ward has left an immeasurable impact on Niwot girls basketball and the whole community," Gillett said. "She's an inspiration for young women in sports by her coaching example and high standards that she sets for her athletes. I'm so fortunate to have learned from her wisdom and strength for years and wish her all the best in her retirement."

Looking further back, Lindsay Underwood was a senior on Niwot's 2000-01 team under Ward. Underwood remembers how Ward would always keep the Cougars upbeat.

"Terri was always a very positive coach and always motivational in that sense," Underwood said. "She just always knew how to lift up the team and just be super positive all along the way regardless of how well we were doing. She would always find the silver lining in something."

It has never been just her players that Ward could so easily connect with. When the Niwot athletic director position opened up in 2019, Brown said he had a conversation with Ward who gave him the confidence to apply. "That meant the world to me," he said.

Ward has also been beloved by fellow coaches across the state. Tanya Haave, head women's basketball coach at Metro State University, first crossed paths with Ward in the early 1980s when Ward was organizing youth camps at CU. Haave also shares a spot with Ward on the Sportswomen of Colorado Board.

"The coaching community is really going to miss her," Haave said. "Everything that she's done and she's meant to girls and women in sports in Colorado and nationwide... She's just always giving back so it's hard to put any quantifiable value on it, but it's invaluable."

While Ward's future won't include coaching, she may return in some capacity as a consultant or mentor for Niwot basketball.