When you hear the phrase, “a coach’s dream,” you think of a player like Waynesville senior Kallie Bildner.
That’s exactly how head coach Brittany Matlock describes Bildner, a Waynesville native who now holds the Tiger career record for points and rebounds.
“I love it here,” Bildner said. “When you grow up here, and you’re just used to everything that’s going on, you just have to make the best out of what you’re given.”
Bildner has helped lead Waynesville to its best season in years, expanding her game to include passing out of post double- and triple-teams.
“It’s been fun to watch her grown from freshman to senior year,” Matlock said.
Off the court, Matlock says Bildner as just as much a “dream.”
“[She’s a] well-balanced kid, overall,” Matlock said. “You don’t have to worry about her in the classroom or what decisions she’s going to make outside of the school setting.”
But on the court, Bildner is known for her toughness, a trait she developed early against some unexpected opponents.
“I played on an all-boys team until sixth grade,” she said.
You see, Bildner is the only girl in her grade who played basketball, so all the time growing up, there were no girls teams to play on. So she “tagged along with the boys,” as she puts it.
“I tell everything that they’re the reason why I am the way I am today,” she said. “Playing with guys is completely different than playing with girls.”
One of her former teammates saw talent early.
“She was one of our better players,” said Trey Simpson, Bildner’s grade-school teammate and current Waynesville senior. “She was bigger than a lot of us boys out there. She was one of our main scorers, main rebounders.”
Playing bigger, stronger opponents helped Bilder develop an edge to her game she still carries today.
“I was used to getting beat up when I was a little kid by all these guys,” she said. “Getting beat up in the post by three girls doesn’t really faze me as much.”
And she would absolutely recommend it.
“If I have a daughter, she’s going to be on an all-guys team.”
Kallie Bildner is Waynesville’s all-time leading scorer, rebounder, and the Arby’s Athlete of the Week.
