Once a Viking, always a Viking!
The final buzzer blares in her ears and that’s it: the game is over.
So many emotions took place at Sunnyslope High School for Kristen Clyder: sadness, joy, nerves, excitement.
But now, her high school career is over.
Who knew she would be back almost 30 years later?
From student to coach, Clyder bleeds green for Sunnyslope.
She has always felt immense pride for our school, along with the community we have built.
But her talents aren’t only used in sports.
Recently, Clyder has adopted the role of substitute teacher here at Slope, and the job has allowed her to “embrace the awesomeness of being around our team more,” and she even feels that the Girls Varsity Basketball Team “is closer than ever at this point.”
When Clyder was a part of Slope’s basketball program years ago, she led her team to a Region Championship in 1998 and 1999 and earned a D1 scholarship to play at Weber State University.
This level of experience has been extremely useful for the girls team and as Senior Varsity Girls Basketball Player, Amelia Mickelson, said, “There are some girls on our team who want to be like that, and now they have somebody who has already gone through the experience.”
After all of this success, most would think relaxation and down time would be most desirable, finally being able to take a break from the hectic nature of high school sports.
But not Clyder.
She said that it is “easy to show up every day for them when I see how much they give and how hard they work.”
However, the athletics weren’t the only thing pulling Clyder back to Slope.
For the last 9 years, she worked as an administrator, having daily interactions with parents and students.
Now though, Clyder’s day is filled with subbing for a variety of classes.
Clyder has “loved getting to know the community even more” throughout her teaching journey and has expressed great gratuity for the opportunity to adopt such a prominent role back at Slope.
Although the buildings, students, and clubs have changed over the years, one thing has remained the same at Sunnyslope, in Clyder’s opinion: the spirit.
Although in the past, the Varsity Girls Basketball team hasn’t engaged in social media posts or themed games, this year, things are changing.
When Clyder isn’t busy running practice or driving the team to away games, she spends her free time working on intricate designs and meaningful Instagram posts that clearly show her spirit for both Sunnyslope and her girls.
Senior Varsity Girls Basketball Player, Teagan McIlroy admires how Clyder, “makes all of the t-shirts and stickers that we sell” along with “drawing and designing all the shirts and merchandise.”
Her effort doesn’t go unnoticed by the team and it is unlike anything they’ve had in the past.
Clyder expressed her gratitude, stating that “Slope still has so many special traditions and great programs,” and she has never once taken for granted how special of a school we have.
