Photo by: C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos
Kim Gidley Stepping Down from Women’s Tennis for Personal Reasons
5/5/2023 10:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – Kim Gidley, who led the charge into a new era for the Air Force women's tennis team, announced she is stepping down after 25 years as the Falcons' head coach for personal reasons.
"On behalf of the entire Academy, I would like to thank Coach Gidley for her leadership of Air force women's tennis over the last 25 years," Director of Athletics Nathan Pine said. Coach Gidley has set a high standard of success and is to be commended for all that she has done at Air Force. We are understanding and supportive of Coach Gidley's need to step away from leading the women's tennis program and will begin a national search immediately."
The only coach to serve the women's tennis program since Air Force Athletics helped form the Mountain West Conference in 1998, Gidley's 350 career wins since stand as the most in program history. Gidley departs the program with 14-straight season finishes at .500 or above, a streak which currently tops all 27 intercollegiate programs at USAFA. Air Force, under the guidance of Gidley, has earned nine Power Five wins, hosted four nationally ranked players and another four ranked doubles pairings, while amassing a 350-287 career record.
"I have been blessed to have my head coaching experience all at the same program, and no less at a place like this," Gidley said. "I knew from the first day I set foot on campus that this place was special. Everything the Academy represents and the amazing cadet-athletes I have been privileged to work with have meant the world to me."
Gidley capped her Academy career with a 2022-23 season in which her Falcons – initially picked to finish last in preseason polls – knocked off both reigning regular-season and conference tournament champions on the way to the program's first-ever appearance in the title round of the Mountain West Championships. Air Force's 4-3 victory this spring over No. 49 San Diego State (Mar. 26) stands as the women's tennis' second all-time top-50 win.
"It has been a joy to finish my career here with a team that defied all odds and made program history with three nationally ranked wins, eight Mountain West Conference wins and a first-ever appearance in the finals of the Mountain West Conference Championships," Gidley said. "This team played for each other, and it was fun to see them accomplish so much."
The program's first-ever top-50 win took place in the 2018-19 season, when the Falcons claimed a 4-3 victory over Big Ten opponent, No. 32 Nebraska. That same season, Air Force finished with a 22-3 dual mark, earning the Falcons' highest-ever dual winning percentage (.880) on the way to a Mountain Division co-championship title.
Academic excellence for her players - a staple of Academy life - has stood as a point of emphasis for Gidley's programs. Since 1998, Air Force women's tennis has added 16 ITA Academic All-Americans and 58 Academic All-Mountain West selections to the Falcon record books.
Gidley's successes across her Air Force career have earned her national recognition on multiple platforms. The Falcons' marquis 2018-19 season paved the way for Gidley notching the program's first-ever Mountain West Coach of the Year award. In both 2016 and 2020, Gidley was named USPTA (United States Professional Tennis Association) Coach of the Year.
Gidley, a native of Abilene, Texas and alumnus of Abilene Christian University, was named a 2023 inductee into the Big Country Athletic Hall of Fame – a group which includes five members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, several members of the College Football Hall of Fame, a number of Olympians, a Masters champion, former NFL, NBA, PGA and major league baseball players, numerous state champion athletes, national skeet and roping champions - all of whom called the Big Country their home growing up.
"I have 25 years of great memories from each team that will live on forever," Gidley said. "No two teams have been the same and that is part of what has made each season here so special."
"On behalf of the entire Academy, I would like to thank Coach Gidley for her leadership of Air force women's tennis over the last 25 years," Director of Athletics Nathan Pine said. Coach Gidley has set a high standard of success and is to be commended for all that she has done at Air Force. We are understanding and supportive of Coach Gidley's need to step away from leading the women's tennis program and will begin a national search immediately."
The only coach to serve the women's tennis program since Air Force Athletics helped form the Mountain West Conference in 1998, Gidley's 350 career wins since stand as the most in program history. Gidley departs the program with 14-straight season finishes at .500 or above, a streak which currently tops all 27 intercollegiate programs at USAFA. Air Force, under the guidance of Gidley, has earned nine Power Five wins, hosted four nationally ranked players and another four ranked doubles pairings, while amassing a 350-287 career record.
"I have been blessed to have my head coaching experience all at the same program, and no less at a place like this," Gidley said. "I knew from the first day I set foot on campus that this place was special. Everything the Academy represents and the amazing cadet-athletes I have been privileged to work with have meant the world to me."
Gidley capped her Academy career with a 2022-23 season in which her Falcons – initially picked to finish last in preseason polls – knocked off both reigning regular-season and conference tournament champions on the way to the program's first-ever appearance in the title round of the Mountain West Championships. Air Force's 4-3 victory this spring over No. 49 San Diego State (Mar. 26) stands as the women's tennis' second all-time top-50 win.
"It has been a joy to finish my career here with a team that defied all odds and made program history with three nationally ranked wins, eight Mountain West Conference wins and a first-ever appearance in the finals of the Mountain West Conference Championships," Gidley said. "This team played for each other, and it was fun to see them accomplish so much."
The program's first-ever top-50 win took place in the 2018-19 season, when the Falcons claimed a 4-3 victory over Big Ten opponent, No. 32 Nebraska. That same season, Air Force finished with a 22-3 dual mark, earning the Falcons' highest-ever dual winning percentage (.880) on the way to a Mountain Division co-championship title.
Academic excellence for her players - a staple of Academy life - has stood as a point of emphasis for Gidley's programs. Since 1998, Air Force women's tennis has added 16 ITA Academic All-Americans and 58 Academic All-Mountain West selections to the Falcon record books.
Gidley's successes across her Air Force career have earned her national recognition on multiple platforms. The Falcons' marquis 2018-19 season paved the way for Gidley notching the program's first-ever Mountain West Coach of the Year award. In both 2016 and 2020, Gidley was named USPTA (United States Professional Tennis Association) Coach of the Year.
Gidley, a native of Abilene, Texas and alumnus of Abilene Christian University, was named a 2023 inductee into the Big Country Athletic Hall of Fame – a group which includes five members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, several members of the College Football Hall of Fame, a number of Olympians, a Masters champion, former NFL, NBA, PGA and major league baseball players, numerous state champion athletes, national skeet and roping champions - all of whom called the Big Country their home growing up.
"I have 25 years of great memories from each team that will live on forever," Gidley said. "No two teams have been the same and that is part of what has made each season here so special."