LC grad excels in coaching

Travis Sherer
Tribune sports reporter

Eleanor (Polinder) Dykstra

CERRITOS, CALIF. -- When Eleanor (Polinder) Dykstra graduated from Lynden Christian High School in 1961, she was determined to help girls get the athletic opportunities she never had.
  Dykstra got a taste of competitive athletics when LCHS played Canadian schools before the Lyncs were part of the Whatcom County League. But halfway through her high school years, LC stopped playing in Canada and adopted the Girls Athletic Association, which was an intramural organization for recreation.
  “I think that was a bit of a motivation for me to make sure some young ladies had an opportunity,” she said.
  After four years at Calvin College and a few years moving around with her husband, Bob, the Dykstras settled in California in 1967.
  Eleanor was teaching at Valley Christian Schools in Cerritos, Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles, and became the girls basketball coach in 1968.
  “When I started teaching at Valley Christian, they were using the same GAA system that we had in high school,” Dykstra said.
  Valley Christian joined the Olympic League and that was the start of her 37-year stint with the Warriors, during which her teams amassed a record of 655-177 and won 22 league championships, nine California Interscholastic Federation championships and three southern regional titles.
  “I’ve had a fair amount of success, but I’ve had great kids,” she said. “And, to be a coach this long, you have to have had some fun.”
  Dykstra coached nine Division 1 basketball players and a number more college athletes. But her coaching prowess wasn’t only on the basketball court. She also coached softball and volleyball.
  In her 22 years in softball, Dykstra had a 316-70 record with 14 league championships and two CIF titles. In eight years as volleyball coach, her record was 120-12 with six league titles.
  In addition to being a coach, Dykstra also served as vice principal for nine years and she was the school’s first girls athletic director. She has worked as the boys and girls athletic director for two years.
  “I think that I was responsible for getting this program on track,” Dykstra said. “Valley Christian already had an athletic program, but they were in the middle of the pack when I got here.”
  When Dykstra retired from coaching two years ago, she was the winningest female basketball coach in California history, and second on the list overall. Her overall record from three sports gave her 1,101 varsity wins, the third most of any coach at any level in California.
  She has also been active in the CIF, acting as league coordinator and league representative. She is also the first female member on the Southern California Basketball Coaches Association board.
  “It is a rewarding feeling because athletics is much more than x’s and o’s,” said Dykstra, who still keeps in contact with many of her former players. “You’ve got to be teaching these kids life goals.”
  Eleanor and Bob, who have been married since 1965, have two children, Rick and Cindy, a son-in-law and three granddaughters.
  E-mail Travis Sherer at sports@lyndentribune.com.