Indira Kaljo named as Gavilan College women's basketball coach
GILROY - Gavilan College Athletics is excited to announce Indira Kaljo as the new head coach of the women’s basketball team and Instructor of Kinesiology.
Kaljo becomes the third head coach since the program was reinstated in 2011. She takes over a team that has not taken the court since finishing the 2019-20 season due to the effects of the pandemic. “We look forward to watching her as she builds our women’s program” says Interim Athletic Director Susan Dodd. “Her previous experiences both on and off the basketball court leaves no doubt that she is the right person for this job.”
A former Division I basketball player at Tulane University, Kaljo helped lead them to a 26-7 record in 2009-10. Despite fighting through injuries her senior year, she averaged 6.8 points a game, as the team won their first Conference USA Championship. The Waves would go on to lose to the University of Georgia by five points in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, the school’s first appearance in the big dance. As a junior in 2008-09 Indira was named Conference USA Newcomer of the Year and finished 13th in the NCAA in three-point percentage (.420), connecting on 66-of-157 from behind the arc. She graduated with a B.A. degree in Science from Tulane while also being on the school’s Honor Roll. After her time was done at Tulane, she spent two years playing basketball professionally, one year in Ireland and another in Bosnia.
Prior to playing for the Green Waves, she was an Honorable Mention All-American, Team MVP and Athlete of the Year for Ventura College in 2008. She graduated with an AA degree finishing on the Dean’s List as well as being the Top Scholar Athlete. Kaljo went on to earn a MS/Emphasis in Physical Education (2012) from Azusa Pacific University and played professional basketball overseas for several years.
Her coaching experiences includes a stop at her alma mater, Ventura College as an assistant in the women’s basketball program under legendary coach Ned Mircetic (2010-12). Coach Mircetic is the winningest community college women’s basketball coach in California, and is also among the nation’s elite with over 860 wins. Most recently she has been a head coach at the high school and middle school level where she also worked as a physical education instructor. (2012-22).
When asked about the opportunity of taking over, Coach Kaljo replied “I am truly excited and honored to be the next Gavilan College Women’s Basketball Head Coach. More so, I am humbled by the trust given to me by our Athletic Director, Susan Dodd; Executive Vice President Renee Craig-Marius; and President, Dr. Kathleen Rose. I am ready to get our team going and make up a fighting and competitive team. We look forward to seeing our community at our home games! Go Rams!”
Kaljo grew up in Los Angeles after moving from her home country of Bosnia when she was six years old. She currently resides in Santa Clara with her husband Aouiss.
The Rams will open up the 2022-23 season on November 4th at home against the Trojans of Skyline College, the time of tip-off has yet to be determined.
(Chris Spence, Gavilan College)