Bartlett's Sarna decides to retire
There comes a time in every coach's life where the decision to continue has to be made.
That time has come for Denise Sarna, and she's made the decision to retire as the only head varsity girls basketball coach in the 17-year history of Bartlett High School.
Sarna informed her players on Thursday at the Hawks' postseason awards program that she won't be returning to the bench next season. She will continue as a physical education teacher at Bartlett.
"It's been 30 years," Sarna said of her overall coaching career. "I've had an opportunity to coach a lot of great kids and meet a lot of new people. It's always been a dream to have an impact on young people and I've been able to do that with a lot of people who share the passion I've always had for basketball.
"But it's a lot of time and 30 years is a long time to coach. There are still things I want to do as a teacher and my family is important to me. Every summer there's camps and leagues and it's just time for me."
Sarna started the Hawks' program when Bartlett opened in 1997. From a one-win season in the program's first varsity campaign, Sarna turned the Hawks into a perennial winner and twice took a team to the IHSA state final tournament at Illinois State University, her alma mater.
A Downers Grove South graduate who played basketball and softball (not at the same time) at ISU, Sarna began her career in Elgin Area School District U-46 in January 1986 at Streamwood High School after short stints at Wheaton North, where she coached volleyball, and Evanston, where she coached basketball.
She was the head coach at Streamwood for the five years current Sabres' coach George Rosner went to Palatine, then when Bartlett opened Sarna stepped in and started the program from scratch.
The Hawks' first winning season came in 2001-02, their first of seven regional championships in 2004.
In 2005, Sarna and Bartlett reached the pinnacle - the Class AA state championship game, where they fell to Peoria Richwoods 52-48. That team went 30-5 and produced, among several standouts, McDonald's All-America Lindsay Schrader, a three-time Daily Herald All-Area captain who went on to star at Notre Dame.
The Hawks returned to Redbird Arena in 2012 and after falling to Whitney Young in the Class 4A semifinals, came back to beat Loyola in the third place game.
In her 17 years at Bartlett, her teams went 315-190, including 20-10 this past season with a regional title. In her overall head coaching career, Sarna is 335-298.
"The year we opened Bartlett we won one game but what a great group of kids that was," Sarna said. "So many cool things came out of that group."
Bartlett has produced seven all-area captains including Schrader three times, current Wisconsin senior Jacki Gulczynski twice, Kaci Baird and Haley Videckis.
"Obviously the teams we had to experience the elite seasons have great memories for me," Sarna said. "But some of the team building trips and activities really stand out, and all my memories with (longtime assistant) Pat (Arnet).
"I can even say one of my fondest memories is coaching softball with Jennifer Haley at Streamwood. There's just so many memories. It's been so great working with so many great kids and people. You maintain relationships with them and see them become successful people in life and that's very special. And I've made some very good friends with a lot of the parents."
Sarna also made sure her teams were involved in positive things off the court.
"We've had a great run with the Bartlett community," she said. "We've tried to give back to the community and we've raised a lot of money for good causes within the community. I hope people realize we've tried to give back and be good role models foe the community. We've had great kids who have done so many charitable things through our basketball family and that's always been something I've been proud to be a part of."