Amherst's Shelli Haferbecker Inducted to WBCA Hall of Fame

Shelli (Yenter) Haferbecker

Amherst High School

2025 WBCA Hall of Fame Inductee-High School Coach

Shelli (Yenter) Haferbecker was born in 1974 in Nelsonville, Wisconsin, to very loving parents, Chet and Faye Yenter. At the age of two, Shelli would grab a basketball on her own and go out in the driveway to shoot hoops where her dad put up a small hoop for her. She always had the love of the game, and her dad spent endless hours out on the driveway practicing with her. He instilled a hard work ethic that carried over into her coaching. Shelli and her younger sister, Heidi, attended school in the neighboring town of Amherst. Shelly played volleyball, basketball and softball. She received a full ride Division 1 scholarship to play basketball at Chicago State University. She ended up transferring to UW-Stevens Point for her senior year and doing her student teaching in her hometown of Amherst. She graduated from UW-Stevens Point with a teaching degree and a minor in psychology.

Straight out of college Shelli began her coaching career in her hometown of Amherst. During that first season, her team went on to win the Division 3 state championship. That is where she stayed loyal throughout her coaching career. She took her team to state six out of the eleven years that she coached. Her oldest child was more involved in sports now, so Shelli decided she needed more time at home and decided to retire. In her last season in 2009, she took her team all the way to win a state championship. After taking a 10-year break, Shelli came back to coach a group of girls for a year and missed going to state on a nail-biter sectional final. Since then, she has focused on helping out wherever she could with her youngest son’s sports and being able to watch his events.

As head varsity coach, Shelli has won two state championships, one state runner-up, six sectional championships, seven conference championships and has compiled a record of 203-64. She has been chosen as the Associated Press Woman’s State Basketball Coach of the Year, WBCA Coach of the Year, Appleton Post Crescent Coach of the Year, Stevens Point Journal Coach of the Year and Conference Coach of the Year multiple times.

During her 12 years at Amherst, Coach Haferbecker’s teams thrived off high intensity, full court defense and transition offense. They wore their opponents down for four quarters with their 2-2-1 full court trapping, pressure defense. She felt that if you put enough defensive pressure on teams with a full court press, have the ball change hands enough and you take the ball out of the best ball handler’s hands, then you will make other people make mental and physical mistakes. Those turnovers and steals will lead to high percentage shots in the way of layups.

Shelli is blessed with three children who she has been able to coach in different sports, including basketball. Her oldest is Lexi, who is a nurse and is married to Cole. They have a baby boy named Leo! Her eldest son is Cayden, who is a successful welder, and he has a girlfriend named Grace. Her youngest son is Cameron, who just graduated from high school and is going to college to be a mechanical engineer. His girlfriend is Mary.

Shelli would like to thank her parents for supporting her throughout her coaching career and helping to watch her three children when she was coaching. She also would like to thank her whole family, her best friend Wendy, and other friends and family for always being there for her. Finally, she would like to thank the WBCA for this special recognition and the honor to be inducted into the WBCA Hall of Fame.

Congratulations to you Shelli for your induction into the 2025 WBCA Hall of Fame as a “High School Coach.”