Don Martindale has resigned as Head Girls Basketball Coach at ELC. He has been ELC’s Head Girls Basketball Coach for the past 8 years. His first season (2017-2018) saw ELC go 2-21. Since then, ELC has gone 142-34 while going 25-7 in post season play.
He felt it was the best decision for him and his loved ones at this time:
ELC has won 4 Lakes Conference Championships going 33-1 the last 4 seasons with a 32-game winning streak broken this year. ELC has played in 6 Class 3A Regional Finals (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025) and has played in 5 Class 3A State Tournaments (2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025) playing 10 games at Wells-Fargo Arena in Des Moines. The 2019 and 2023 teams were Class 3A quarter finalists. The 2025 team reached the Semi-Finals losing to Class 3A State Champion Mount Vernon by 1 point. The 2024 team was a Class 3A Runner-Up losing to State Champion Solon in the Class 3A Championship game. The 2022 team won the Class 3A State Champion defeating Ballard.
He enjoyed his time at ELC and loved the relationships he built with the athletes, parents, and the community:
At ELC he is a 3X Iowa Girls Coaches Association Class 3A District Coach of the Year (2022, 2023, 2024), a 3X Iowa Basketball Coaches Association Regional Class 3A Coach of the Year (2022, 2023, 2024,), the 2022 Iowa Basketball Coaches Association Class 3A Coach of the Year, was inducted into the Iowa Girls Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2022, and in 2023 received the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, Iowa Sports Foundation (Iowa Games) and the Robert D. and Billie Ray Center at Drake University Character Counts-Pursuing Victory With Honor Award.
Full Interview With Don Martindale:
