Rounding the Bases checks in with first-year assistant coaches at new programs and shines a spotlight on their coaching styles and perspectives. Some may be rookies in the coaching world, while others may be seasoned veterans who have simply moved to a new locale.
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Kelsey Aikey’s career in a Western Kentucky uniform was one of quality, of durability, and of success. From filling the role of closer as a freshman to being the program’s ace late in her career, Aikey earned all-conference honors three times during her career, including an all-freshman nomination in 2017.
An Iowa native, Aikey was just a few months removed from her own playing career’s end when she was hired as the assistant coach at Division II Upper Iowa last summer. After one season at UIU, Aikey followed head coach Kiki Stokes to Kansas City, joining the Division 1 coaching ranks for the first time.
Extra Inning Softball: When did you know that you wanted to pursue coaching as your career path?
Kelsey Aikey: I started giving pitching lessons when I was a sophomore in high school to younger girls that lived in my area. After I gave my first lesson, I fell in love with teaching about the sport, specifically pitching. At the end of the day, it made me feel good when I could teach others, and see the adjustments and strides that they would make. Still to this day, I talk to my kids that I first started working with and I’ll get text messages or videos here and there and it still warms my heart to see how successful they are becoming, and the fact that I get to be a part of that is amazing. Growing up, I had tons of coaches and for someone to dive into you and pour all they have is a feeling someone can’t even describe, and I strive so hard to be that for these young women.
Extra Inning Softball: Describe your coaching style. What do you feel are your biggest strengths as a coach?
Kelsey Aikey: I would describe my coaching style as fun and exciting, yet serious at the same time. Being a young coach and recently out of college, I know what these young women are going through, so I feel like I know what they need, and when they need it. I think the bonus for me, is that Coach Ki and I work so good together. It might be cliché, but I truly believe we match each other’s energies so well, and she picks up my weaknesses, as well as I pick up hers, and that’s what good coaches do! At the end of the day, my job is to make these young women and athletes, leaders in the world after college while giving them the best four years of their lives.
Extra Inning Softball: Tell me what you gleaned from your time on staff at UIU. What did beginning your coaching career there instill in you to help build the remainder of your career on?
Kelsey Aikey: I am incredibly grateful for my time at Upper Iowa. It taught me so much not only as a person, but as a first year coach. Going to college at a Division 1 school, I was excited to start at a Division II so I could see a different aspect of the sport. I don’t think there was a better group of girls I could have worked with then the first team I got! Living in Fayette, Iowa, a very small town to be specific, those girls were the humblest athletes I have ever met. They made my first year of coaching collegiate softball one to remember. When you take on a new team, you never know what is on the other side of the wall, but the team culture there was something I have never experienced before. Those ladies played for one another and nothing else. They were sisters on and off the field and that is something I hope to instill in all the teams I work with.
Extra Inning Softball: From your successes during your career at WKU, what do you take from your experiences as a player to help you continue to grow and succeed as a coach?
Kelsey Aikey: I think the number one thing I took from being a player to help me coach is mental toughness. My freshman year of college, I was specifically in a closing role. When the game was on the line, the last two to three innings was my time to (hopefully) shine. If you’ve ever heard the line “you’re the hero or the zero,” boy, did I live by that. Some days I embraced my role and some days I wanted to run from it. But I would never take back that experience because it has made me who I am today. I was held to a very high standard from my coach and looking back at it, I’m thankful. I never really had a coach push me to my limits and make me understand what I was capable of, and she did. I learned a lot in my five years at Western, and had so many amazing teammates that will forever be some of my best friends. I learned how to be a good teammate, and take on leadership roles. At the end of the day, people aren’t going to remember your stats, they are going to remember how you were as a person and a teammate and that’s what I believe in.
Extra Inning Softball: How big of a benefit is it for you to follow coach Stokes to this new role, having already worked for her at your previous position? How big of a difference does that make vs. simply settling into a completely new place with completely-new people?
Kelsey Aikey: Like I stated before, Coach Stokes and I work so well together. I never thought I would be in the role I am now so quickly, and I am so happy that I get to do that with her and that she has given me this opportunity. When she was interviewing me for the assistant role at UIU, we pretty much clicked from there. We have similar views and standards of what we are looking for and how we coach so I couldn’t be more excited for our future in softball.
Extra Inning Softball: The last couple of years have not been easy for anyone in the coaching world… even though you entered the coaching profession post-pandemic, have the challenges of the current times in college athletics affected you much – or at all?
Kelsey Aikey: I think going through the pandemic when I was still a player gave so many negatives, but also a lot of positives that I can carry with me. The number one being [to] adjust and adapt. That is something that all athletes can relate to. When the time comes, and challenges hit, athletes are trained to adapt and adjust. Now as a coach, I can continue to create this dynamic on my team.
Extra Inning Softball: Let’s say we’re having this conversation one year from now, once you have a full season at KC under your belt. What needs to have happened during that season for you to be able to say ‘this was a successful year’?
Kelsey Aikey: This is a tough question to answer. It may sound stupid, but I think the answer is simply self-growth. Obviously anyone’s normal answer would be to compete, kick ass, and win a conference championship, but I think it’s more than that. A successful year looks very different to everyone. From working with these athletes for a couple months right now, I think their biggest success would be to perform, feel confident doing so, and let them know I believe in them. Being a new coach, my ultimate goal is having these kids buy in to what we are teaching them. Creating a team culture that is untouchable will show its results in the end.
