CARMEL – When it comes to her third-grade class at Forest Dale Elementary School or her Carmel High School softball team, Stephanie Kleiner has a knack for knowing the right buttons to push to get the most out of her students and players.
That applies to her daughters, too. Sometimes a little guilt trip is all it takes.
“If I don’t want to clean my room she’ll say, ‘I’ll clean it then,’” said eighth-grade daughter Alex. “It makes me feel bad. It works. It really works.”
Kleiner, the 2026 IndyStar Mother’s Day “Sports Mom of the Year,” is a problem solver in many areas of her life. Her oldest daughter, Carmel softball senior Jayden Kleiner, calls her “Super Mom.”
“She is a natural leader,” Jayden said. “When she steps into the room, people listen to her.”
When Kleiner took over the Carmel softball program nearly three years ago, one of her first priorities was to reinvent the “Pups” program, which is the lifeline between the youth players in Carmel’s school system and the high school team. “When I took the job,” Kleiner said, “there was a huge disconnect.”
So, Kleiner went to work at overhauling the Pups program, a job that went well beyond picking teams, scheduling games and hosting a few clinics. You will find those youth players in the dugout at Carmel games, cheering alongside their heroes on the high school team as they perform their batgirl duties.
It is not unusual to see Carmel’s high school players attending the Pups games, too. Those relationships have been instrumental in infusing momentum into a Carmel program that had struggled with numbers and in the win-loss column.
“Her impact is also deeply personal,” said Heidi Stan, who has a daughter in the Carmel program. “Stephanie has raised her oldest daughter not only to be a talented player, but to be a leader and mentor. She has encouraged her daughter to take our daughter in like a little sister — helping train her, guide her and support her along the way. That kind of example doesn’t happen by accident; it reflects the values Stephanie models every day about teamwork, kindness and lifting others up.”
Kleiner (maiden name Izaks) grew up in suburban Chicago, earning all-state honors as a pitcher and outfielder at Deerfield High School. She started coaching a travel team while in college at Indiana University, then picked it back up shortly after Jayden was born as a coach at Creekside Middle School in the Carmel system.
Around that same time, Kleiner started coaching a travel program at Indiana Primetime Sports, which operates out of Carmel and Westfield and offers programs in several sports.
“I taught for 10 years (as a kindergarten teacher at West Clay), then took five years off and was just coaching,” Kleiner said. “I didn’t love the down time. I was doing lessons at night but it just wasn’t productive for me. I went back to teaching, but I was also doing travel (coaching).”
She is equal parts coach and teacher. The two are intertwined.
“She was a kindergarten teacher for a long time, and she would tell the parents, ‘Let me teach your kids how to read and you just tell then you love them every night,” her husband, Lee Kleiner said. “It’s still that same philosophy (in coaching): ‘I’ll coach and you just tell your kids you love them at night.’ I’ve always taken that classroom speech as to how she coaches her kids, too.”
Since 2019, Kleiner has been an assistant director with the Indiana Magic Gold program. This will be her fourth year coaching the 18-U group, which is made of players who are committed to college programs and preparing for their freshman seasons.
“It’s my turn to teach them to be in that environment where they have to step it up,” she said. “One of the things I’ve gotten out of it is just the ability to have time to make relationships inside the dugout and with people I would never make relationships with before with and also a really special relationship with my daughter. It is such a once in a lifetime experience to spend this much time together and we have really cherished that time and we’ve developed our relationship over that time.”
The calendar fills up quickly. Between teaching and coaching high school and travel teams, the “slow” months are basically December and (sort of) August.
“It’s a group effort,” Kleiner said. “We make it work. My husband and I want to set a good example for our kids. My parents and my husband’s parents were super hard workers, and I think our kids have an unbelievable work ethic. They are both up early before school getting their work done. We don’t let anybody control our time if it’s not meant to be there. When everyone talks about this generation (not working hard), I can honestly say I don’t feel that way.”
Jayden, in many ways, is an extension of her mom. She shares a passion for softball (Jayden will play in college at Michigan) and has natural leadership qualities. Like her mom, Jayden has forged a connection to the girls in the Pups program. It is a common occurrence for Jayden to run into a Pups player in the grocery store or out in the community and strike up a conversation.
“Sometimes it’s easy to conform to those around you,” Jayden said. “But my mom really pushed for us to strive for greatness and do what we’re best at. I feel like the Pups program is a direct representation of the work that she does and the support system she has behind her. My teammates have been great at it, too. The past three years our upperclassmen have been great leaders and they show a real passion for helping others. … Carmel wouldn’t be what it is without the Pups program.”
Kleiner does her best to split her time between her daughters, though Alex’s sports interests are not as intense as Jayden’s. She has played soccer in the Carmel system since third grade and also tried cheerleading, dance, swimming and acting. She has even done some modeling.
“I like the friends I’ve made through soccer but it’s not as much of a passion as softball is for my mom and sister,” she said.
Stephanie said Alex could probably coach softball if she chose to because he has been around it so much growing up. “By osmosis, she has developed a head for the game,” Stephanie said. But even if Alex is not heavily immersed in softball, she applies those same lessons learned from her mother in other areas of her life.
“I’m really proud of her,” Alex said of her mom. “She’s really hard working and always puts 100% into everything she does. She really does her best to spend quality time with my sister and me. She’s always supportive and ready to talk to people and really good at having conversations with you.”
Carmel’s success on the field has started to take a turn, too. The Greyhounds, with just 15 combined wins in Kleiner’s first two seasons, have improved to 10-10 this season with a still young roster.
“A lot of happier nights,” Lee Kleiner said. “It’s been fun. Success is always fun. Building something from unsuccessful to successful is fun, too. It’s been a good year, and I think she’s energized and loves what she’s doing.”
Jayden marvels at her mom’s ability to juggle so many different responsibilities from mom to coach to teacher, sometimes all at once. A few weeks ago, she remembered at school that she had forgotten her softball bag, change of clothes and shoes. “Guess what?” Jayden said. “She had it in the car for me. It’s things like that all the time.”
Kleiner sees the classroom and the softball diamond as a microcosm of life. You don’t always control the hand you are dealt, but you can control the reaction. Eighth grader Izzy Sperle, a softball player at Clay Middle School with a bright future, died unexpectedly in her sleep on Feb. 2. At a game earlier this season, the Carmel softball program honored her memory and celebrated the family.
It was a sad night, but also a special night to bring people together. When Kleiner reflects on what drives her to be a coach and teacher, it is those connections that matter most.
“The relationships I’ve made with people that I wouldn’t have come into contact with before,” Kleiner said of what she loves about coaching. “People from all different walks of life that have such wonderful traits and teaching me how to deal with all sorts of things inside the dugout – successes, failures, problem solving, celebrations and just being able to have all of that life experience in one specific environment … the field or the dugout is such an intimate place and so much that goes on between the foul lines that nobody understands. I’ve gotten the experience of making those memories, creating those relationships and it’s a huge takeaway for me as a person. As I continue to grow and change as a coach and a teacher and as a mom, I can use all of those experiences to help me.”
Previous ‘Sports Mom of Year’ winners
2025: Tamika Beeler
2024: Katie Hupfer
2023: Crystal Clark and Amy Dinwiddie
2022: Susie Strange
2021: Kris Schepers
2020: Kathy Loggan
2019: Angie Young
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649. Get IndyStar’s high school coverage sent directly to your inbox with the High School Sports newsletter. And be sure to subscribe to our new IndyStarTV: Preps YouTube channel.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: 2026 IndyStar Sports Mom of the Year teacher, coach and mentor. ‘Super Mom.’
Reporting by Kyle Neddenriep, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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