Berggren returning to coach at Schaumburg High

Former Big Ten Player of the Year Ashley Berggren is returning home to coach in the same Mid-Suburban League where she starred as a high school girls basketball player.

Berggren, a former Barrington standout, has been named the head girls basketball coach at Schaumburg High School.

"I didn't really anticipate this happening, but obviously it is a pleasant surprise to be given this opportunity," said Berggren, who as a junior was the Daily Herald All-Area honorary co-captain with her sister Erica, then a senior.

Berggren has been working as president and founder of Dream Out Loud Sports LLC, a youth sports company that organizers and operates youth sports leagues, camps and clinics in Colorado. Before that, she was a resource teacher and head girls basketball coach from 2004 to 2006 at Steamboat Springs High School in Colorado.

"I've been living in Colorado and California," said Berggren, whose parents, brother and sister all live in Illinois. "It is nice to come back here and get established in the Schaumburg community."

Berggren was an All-American for the University of Illinois after starring in basketball and softball at Barrington. She was the Big Ten Player of the Year in 1997 and a three-time all-Big Ten selection (1996-1998).

She was twice selected as the University of Illinois' Female Athlete of the Year (1997 and 1998).

In February, she became the first women's basketball player at Illinois to have her jersey retired.

"That was really a special honor," said Berggren, who was delighted to have several family members and friends on hand for that event.

In 1998, she was the 13th overall selection (second round) by the Chicago Condors in the American Basketball League draft.

"No question about it, Ashley was a standout student-athlete at the University of Illinois," said Schaumburg athletic director Tim Kirby, who was the Conant freshman girls basketball coach when Berggren was starring at Barrington.

"She'll be able to draw from her experiences as a player at both the collegiate and professional level, and those experiences will help her go far as a high-school coach."

Berggren earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Illinois in 1998. She earned her elementary education license from National-Louis University (Chicago) in 2004, and her special education generalist license from Regis University in Denver in 2007.

Berggren is currently completing her master's degree from Regis in special education. She will teach in the special education department at Schaumburg.

"I know the student-athletes are thirsty for success here," she said. "And they are anxious to meet goals that we will determine."