Girls basketball: Storm grows into opportunity at Schaumburg

As a young child, Jacqie Storm was taller than most of her peers.

"I was really tall as a kid," said the former Sandburg High School and University of St. Francis (Joliet) standout shooting guard. "My dad is 6-foot-2, so there were some big hopes for me (as a post player). But then I stopped growing."

But her love for the game did not.

Now, she will try to transfer that passion into success for the Schaumburg girls basketball program.

Storm has been named varsity head coach, replacing Curtis Goodwin, who has stepped down after three seasons.

Instead of playing under the basket, the 5-foot-8 Storm became a shooting guard and helped Sandburg to back-to-back supersectional appearances and a trip to the Elite Eight in 2005.

Storm played at St. Francis from 2006 to 2010 and was a three-year captain.

She was named freshman of the year in the Chicago Collegiate Athletic Conference and was a four-year CCAC first team all-conference player.

As a sophomore, she reached the 1,000-point mark and finished with 1,834 points.

She was twice named an honorable mention National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics all-American.

From a young age, Storm knew she wanted to be a teacher and from that coaching followed.

"I was influenced by a lot of people in those fields," Storm said. "So I wanted to do the same."

The Schaumburg High School English teacher hopes to have the same impact on her students and athletes.

"I was always an avid reader, a really big Harry Potter fan," she said. "I was a strong writer as a kid and when I got to college, I had a passion for (English)."

After college, Storm was the freshman girls basketball coach at Sandburg High School (2010-2011) and then varsity coach at Gordon Tech High School (Chicago) for the 2012-2013 school year. She served as the sophomore girls basketball coach at Romeoville High School for the 2013-2014 season.

Storm became Schaumburg's assistant girls basketball varsity coach for the 2014-2015 season before coaching the Saxons junior varsity team last season.

"As the varsity assistant two years ago, I got to be with some of the current girls (such as all-area junior forwards Mallory Gerber and Laura O'Connell)," Storm said. "So they will definitely know my style and that will hopefully help with the transition."

The biggest thing Storm emphasizes is that hard work is essential in all aspects of the game.

"You have to have the full package," she said. "While offense is fun, defense is a big part of the game. Our offense is pretty good now but we have to coach defense in order to be effective."

Storm has also been the varsity girls tennis coach at Schaumburg the last two years.

She holds a degree in English as well as master of science degree in educational leadership.

"We couldn't be happier with the selection of coach Storm to lead our girls' basketball program," said Schaumburg principal Tim Little. "Jacqie's student-centered and a quality person.

"She's the kind of person you'd want working with not only your student-athletes on the court, but your students in the classroom as well."

Storm is excited to take over a team that was 16-12 last winter and tied for second in the Mid-Suburban West with a 7-3 record.

The Saxons last MSL division title was in 2008 under coach Bill Murmann. Schaumburg also won division titles under coach Joe Breault in 1980 (also the conference crown that year), 1995, 1997 and 1998.

"I'm really excited for this opportunity," Storm said. "And we are getting ready to work hard at it."