Wisconsin Elite Girls Basketball

The Wisconsin Elite Girls Basketball coaching staff is second to none. We have assembled an experienced coaching staff and who are eager to demonstrate our genuine interest in each players development. Our staff strives to challenge our players to their maximum potential in practices and games. This makes the Wisconsin Elite coaching staff special.

Robby Anderson has coached basketball for the past 10 years in Richland Center.  He has coached youth, JV and varsity summer teams. Coach Anderson's youth girls teams finished in the top ten at the Division 2 Wisconsin State Basketball Championship Invitational three consecutive seasons with a 3rd place showing in 2007. He is a member of the youth basketball board in Richland Center and a Director of the Southern Wisconsin Basketball League.  This is the second year that Robby has coached girls AAU basketball.  Robby also coaches the Richland Center Varsity Boys in summer.  Coach Anderson has a passion for helping young people that want to succeed.  Robby resides in Richland Center with his wife Amy and their daughters Mara, Emily and son Luke. 

Coach Brown has coached high school girls’ basketball at various levels for six years, two years at Logan High School in LaCrosse, one year at Sun Prairie High School, and the last three at DeForest Area High School.  She also teaches Chemistry and coaches softball.  Coach Brown graduated from Sun Prairie High School.  She earned her B.S. in Secondary Education and Chemistry Degree from UW-LaCrosse.  Coach Brown will earn her Master’s Degree in Science Education in May from UW-Oshkosh.  She currently resides in Sun Prairie with her fiancé Dan Gugel.

Coach Farnsworth was a freshmen and JV boys’ basketball coach in Waunakee for 15 years before retiring from coaching to spend time with his family. Recently, he has been coaching tri-county girls’ basketball in Waunakee and helping with boys’ youth basketball with his two children, Maddie and Ben. He and his wife Denise are both teachers in the Waunakee School District where they reside.

Coach Ryan Finley was the assistant varsity boy’s basketball coach at Mt. Horeb high school for six years and helped coach the Vikings to their last Badger Conference championship.  He gave up coaching varsity basketball a few years ago so he could spend more time with his family.  He is still coaching the 7thgrade boys and 8th grade girl’s middle school basketball teams.  He is currently the Head Baseball Coach at Mt. Horeb High School where he is a Health and Physical Education teacher.  Coach Finley graduated from UW-Platteville.  Ryan resides in Mt. Horeb with his wife, Joy, and their two children, Jaxen and Macie.

Fredrick has been coaching girl's basketball at the middle and high school levels for the past 21 years. For the past four seasons he has served as the freshmen or junior varsity girl's coach at DeForest Area High School. Brian is also involved with the DeForest Area Girls Youth Basketball Association serving as vice-commissioner and a coach. In the summer of 2009, he coached the DeForest 7th grade girl's to a 4th place finish at the Wisconsin State Invitational Championships. This in his 3rd season coaching for Wisconsin Elite. With 21 years of teaching experience, Coach Fredrick is currently teaching 8th grade social studies at Glacial Drumlin School in the Monona Grove School District. He received his Bachelor's Degree from UW Eau Claire and earned a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership from Viterbo. Coach Fredrick resides in DeForest with his wife Ann, and their three daughters, Kelsea, Asha, and Maija.

Coach Todd Grundahl has coached basketball at various levels in the DeForest Area Girls Youth Basketball Association for the last four years. He was a varsity assistant girls basketball coach at Monona Grove High School for two years. He also has coached high school softball, youth softball, baseball, and flag football. This is his second year coaching for WI Elite. Coach Grundahl graduated from UW-Whitewater with a bachelor’s degree in Finance and from Lakeland College with a bachelor’s degree in Accounting. He is currently employed at Advertisers Press Inc, located in Middleton, as Controller/Safety Coordinator. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family. Todd resides in DeForest with his wife, Lori, and their four children, Jaylee, Aleah, Trace and Tucker.

Coach Gugel coached middle school boys’ basketball for two years.  He has also coached high school baseball for ten years.  Coach Gugel graduated from Madison LaFollette High School.  He earned his B.S. and Master’s Degrees in Accounting from Edgewood College.  Coach Gugel currently resides in Sun Prairie with his fiancée Maggie Brown.

Coach Hale retired as the head girls’ basketball coach at Waunakee High School after the 2008-2009 season. During his 14 years running the Warriors program he amassed over 200 victories, five conference championships (1999, 2000, 2001, 2007, and 2008), and two sectional championships. His 1998 and 2001 teams advanced to the State Tournament. Coach Hale was also selected as the Division 2 WBCA All-Star Head Coach in 2002 and a Division 1 Assistant Coach in 2006. He also finished his career coaching the Badger North All-Stars to a victory over the Badger South All-Stars in 2008. This is Coach Hale’s 2nd season coaching with the Wisconsin Elite. Before joining Waunakee Coach Hale spent eight years learning the trade in the boys’ basketball programs in Breck, MN, Altoona, WI, and Medford, WI. Hale continues to teach English and Writing at Waunakee High School. He resides in Madison with his wife Carri and their three daughters, Celeste, Tessa, and Chloe.

Coach Pickarts has been the head girl’s basketball coach at DeForest High School for the past 21 years. During that time the Lady Norskies have won 8 conference championships; 1991, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009. His teams have also advanced to the state tournaments three times in 2002, 2005 & 2006. Coach Pickarts was also selected as an assistant WBCA All-Star coach in 1991 and 1995, and was selected as the head coach in 2006. He was also selected to coach in the Badger North All-Stars in 2007 and 2009. He has recently achieved his 300th coaching victory during this season. Doug has been actively involved in coaching youth basketball for his two daughters the past five seasons from 3rd to 7th grades. Prior to that, he coached his two sons throughout their youth basketball years. This is his 3rd season coaching for Wisconsin Elite. Pickarts has also served as the head volleyball coach at DeForest High School for the past 22 years. He has amassed over 500 victories and his teams have won 6 conference titles. Coach Pickarts graduated from Madison Lafollette High School. He received his B.S. in Secondary Education, in Mathematics, from UW-Whitewater. Coach Pickarts currently resides in DeForest with his wife Tammy and his four children: Trey, Trent, Teegan and Taryn.

Coach Simms has spent three years coaching at Waunakee High School, with the last two seasons as Freshman Coach. Colee played four years of basketball for Waunakee. She played her senior year as Captain for a successful team that were co-Champions of the Badger North Conference (after beating Aimee Thrune), Regional Champions, and were Sectional Runners-Up. Colee loves coaching basketball and helping girls improve their game. She is currently studying Broad Field Social Studies and Secondary Education at Edgewood College. This is her second year coaching for the Wisconsin Elite Basketball Club.

Coach Aimee Thrune (not to be confused with my Dad) has been a summer basketball skills coach for Sauk Prairie the last three years.  She is a member of the Lakeland College Women’s Basketball team, where she has been the starting point guard two of the three years she as played there.  Aimee also played four years for Sauk Prairie, whose rival is Waunakee.  She was a captain her junior and senior year, when Sauk won back to back conference championships, with the second being shared with Waunakee.  She was a member of the Sectional Runner-Up team in 2009.  Aimee has played basketball since she was able to dribble a ball.  She played AAU basketball for the Elite for one year and has played for both Bob Johnson and Jerry Schwenn.  Aimee is majoring in Mathematics Education as well as Spanish Education at Lakeland College.  She loves basketball.  Aimee has missed only one Girl’s State Basketball tournament since 2006.  Her parents are coaches, it is in her blood.

Coach Thrune is currently the varsity assistant girls’ basketball coach at Waunakee High School. During his 14 years as the varsity assistant in the Warriors program he has been a part of over 250 victories, seven conference championships, and two sectional championships, advancing to the State Tournament in 1998 and 2001. Coach Thrune was also selected as a Division 2 WBCA All-Star Assistant Coach in 2002. This is Coach Thrune’s first season coaching with the Wisconsin Elite and 4^th season overall coaching AAU. Before joining Waunakee, Coach Thrune spent 13 years as the varsity boys’ basketball coach in Deerfield, WI, and one year in Ithaca, WI. He spent 13 years as a varsity assistant football coach, 10 years as a junior varsity girls’ soccer coach and one year as a varsity assistant tennis coach.  Thrune continues to teach Math at Waunakee Middle School. He resides in Prairie du Sac with his wife Angelia and their three college student children - Tyler, Aimee, and Jason.

Coach Janell Van Gomple played four years at DeForest High School, where she helped lead them to the state tournament in 2005.  She then went on to attend and play basketball at UW-Stevens Point where she graduated with a degree in Sociology and minor in coaching.  While there the pointers qualified for the NCAA tournament two times, making it as far as the sweet 16. She ended her career in 2009 with 741 points and was named first team all WIAC .  After spending 3 years out in Colorado Janell returned and is currently attending UW-Platteville to receive her masters in Adult Education.  As well as attending school, she is also the graduate assistant for the Women’s basketball team where she just completed her first season.