Bartlett's Arnet bringing a satisfying career to an end

As Pat Arnet was growing up Pat Norman in Ames, Iowa, and then in Freeport, IL., there were no competitive sports in high school for girls. Gym classes and whatever organized events the Girls Athletic Association had back in the late 1960s and early 1970s were about all girls had for sports back then.

But that didn't stop Arnet from forming a love for the game of basketball that remained with her the rest of her life.

Arnet, who has been Denise Sarna's assistant varsity coach at Bartlett the past 10 years, is retiring at season's end, one year after she retired as a physical education and driver's education instructor at Bartlett.

"I guess it's time to hang it up," said Arnet this week of a career that began in Elgin Area School District U-46 in 1977. "It's time to move on, but it's also hard to think about. I've been doing it for so long."

Arnet's journey to U-46 began in Ames, where her father was the boys basketball coach (he won a state championship there). The family moved to Freeport when her dad got a job at the high school there and that's where Pat graduated from. Her brothers, Ron and Tom, both went on to play at the University of Iowa and another brother, Pete, is currently the head coach at Highland Community College in Freeport. Pat's niece, Katie Norman, was a key player for the Class 3A state runner-up Freeport team a year ago and is now a senior leader of the 21-3 Pretzels, who are ranked No. 6 in Class 3A.

"I never had the opportunity to play in high school but basketball has been in my family's blood forever," said Arnet, a St. Charles resident. "I've been to a lot of games in my life and I watch basketball on TV all the time."

Arnet, who graduated from Iowa State in 1973, studied for her Master's degree at Iowa and landed a graduate-assistant coaching position there. "The college game was just taking off then," she says.

After a stopover in Rochelle for a year, where she coached basketball and softball, it was on to U-46 and a job at Larkin. Among other things over the years, she was Larkin's head girls basketball coach in the infancy of the program.

She married Bob Arnet, a longtime science teacher and coach in U-46. Helping her decision to step away from the bench after this season is the fact Bob, who will help coach track at Bartlett this spring, will retire at the end of the school year as well.

After taking some time off to start a family, Pat returned to coaching at Streamwood and that's where her relationship with Sarna began. She was Sarna's assistant at Streamwood for two years and then moved to Bartlett with Sarna when the school opened in 1998.

"I could go on for hours and hours about Pat," Sarna said. "I had to talk her into one more year and I'm grateful that she did stay one more year. I'm going to miss her, that's for sure. It seems like it was just yesterday that we were starting out."

Sarna says Arnet's experience has been more than beneficial to the Bartlett program, one that has become a consistent winner with Sarna and Arnet leading the way.

"I'm so appreciative of her knowledge not only as a coach but in so many other things," Sarna said. "All those situations that come up ... we have the same philosophies and sometimes I don't even have to ask her what she thinks. Pat does most of the subbing for us and that's an important part of the game. I'm confident with her doing that and we're almost always on the same page.

"I've been so fortunate to have her wisdom. She's just a really smart person. She's so caring and thoughtful. Sometimes I get caught up in things and I'm grateful to have Pat there. When we had our Pink Zone game, she was the one who thought to go out and get the guys pink ties."

Arnet says she came back for one final season because of Bartlett's seniors.

"We liked this group of seniors so much I wanted to come back and coach them," she said. "I've really enjoyed my time here at Bartlett and my 12 years with Denise. It's been a lot of fun. I know it won't end completely. I really like all sports but I just love basketball. But it's time to let the younger ones take over."

Without hesitation, Arnet says her most memorable coaching experience was in 2005, when she and Sarna coached the Hawks to second place in the Class AA state tournament at Redbird Arena.

"That was just awesome," she said. "All the time you coach, it's just your dream to coach in a state championship game. Then, I got to live it again last year with my niece at Freeport. It's an out-of-body experience in a way. It's something for a coach to really look back on and it's something for kids to strive for."

But Arnet says that as time goes on, she's realized it's time to enjoy retirement.

"The emotions of coaching are so difficult that it does wear on you," she said. "Even though I'm an assistant, you still get emotionally involved. You can't sleep. That's not so good for an older person. I've looked back this year and wondered how I taught and coached all those years at the same time."

For the better part of 30 years, this is a lady who has given her heart and soul to whatever program she was coaching in, with Bartlett's girls being the benefactor of her experience and wisdom the past 10 years.

"I hope I can be like her someday," Sarna said. "She's one of a kind."

We'll second that and no further voting is needed. Motion passed.

jradtke@dailyherald.com