Former Old Town basketball star lands first head coaching job

Katie BergeronSOUTH PORTLAND, Maine — It has been five years since Katie Bergeron graduated from Bowdoin College in Brunswick.

And even though her college basketball career ended there, she has continued to pursue the game she loves, first as a professional player and now as a head coach.

The Bradley native has been named the head women’s basketball coach at Southern Maine Community College. The 28-year-old Bergeron becomes the seventh coach in program history for SMCC, which competes in the Yankee Small College Conference as a member of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association.

“I was extremely impressed with Katie during the interview process and feel she will be not only lead the program in a successful manner but will also be an outstanding role model to her players and the other student athletes within the department,” SMCC athletic director Matt Richards said in a press release.

Bergeron, who attended Old Town High School, last season served as an assistant coach under Lynne Hasson at South Portland High School, which reached the Class AA South championship game and finished with a 17-4 record.

She started her coaching career during 2011-2012 as an assistant at Division III Emmanuel College in Boston, but couldn’t get playing out of her system. The 5-foot-5 guard played two seasons in England for Leeds Carnegie, where she averaged approximately 22 points, 5 assists and 3.5 steals in two seasons covering 100 games.

In 2014, Bergeron was named the Division 2 England Basketball player of the year and EuroBasket player of the year and was honored as the year’s top guard and import player.

While in England, she also obtained master’s degrees in sport business and sport law. Bergeron played and coached in Denmark and England before coming home.

Bergeron was a standout at Old Town High School, where she was a first-team All-Big East Conference selection and a Bangor Daily News All-Maine honorable mention. She went on to Bowdoin, where she enjoyed an impressive career with one of the nation’s top Division III programs.

As a senior during 2010-2011, she captained coach Adrienne Shibles’ Polar Bears and earned All-NESCAC first-team recognition. Bergeron finished as a 1,000-point career scorer (1,180) and also was a 79 percent career free-throw shooter.

“I am very excited to take on the role as head women’s basketball coach at Southern Maine Community College,” Bergeron said in the release. “I am extremely passionate about Maine Basketball and coaching, developing and mentoring young women and I’m eager to start my college coaching career at an institution that focuses on preparing and empowering their students for success after college.”

SMCC posted a 23-10 record last season and advanced to the USCAA Division II national tournament, where it dropped both games. The Seawolves had only two seniors on their roster.

Pete Warner

About Pete Warner

Pete is a Bangor native who graduated from Bangor High School, Class of 1980. He earned a B.S. in Journalism (Advertising) from the University of Maine in 1986. He has been a full-time member of the Bangor Daily News Sports staff since 1984. Pete lives in Bangor with his wife of 35 years, Annia. They have two adult sons, Will and Paul. Pete is fluent in Spanish and enjoys visiting his in-laws and friends in Costa Rica. His hobbies including hunting, fishing and listening to jazz.