Few high school athletic coaches around the state of Wisconsin can match success with longevity as well as Tom Berven.
Berven has been a model of incredible consistency throughout his 46-year head coaching career with an eye-popping 39 conference championships, five state championships and six runner-up finishes. His contributions to Neenah’s state tournament trophy case span a staggering 45 years as his 1971 and 2016 teams both earned runner-up finishes.
Berven came to Neenah as a 23-year-old social studies teacher in 1964, teaching courses in psychology, modern problems and U.S. history. In 1965, he began a 16-year run as the junior varsity basketball coach under varsity coach Ron Einerson, posting a 229-58 career record. He was named the junior varsity boys tennis coach in 1967 under varsity coach Ivan Williams and took over the program in 1971 when Williams retired.
Much of the reason for the tennis team’s glory comes from Berven’s dedication to the summer Parks and Recreation Department program. Over the last 49 years, the program has totaled 300,000 in attendance. It was named the Wisconsin Tennis Association Organization of the Year in 2000.
One of Berven’s proudest achievements came during the 1993 tennis season when Neenah achieved the only perfect score in the history of the WIAA tournament under its old format with its top two singles and doubles teams both playing each other in the state finals. That 1993 squad was the third of five consecutive state championship teams for the Rockets. He has coached 10 individual state champions and taken players to state every year during his coaching career while posting a 436-49-1 record in dual matches.
Berven is a member of the Wisconsin High School Tennis Coaches Association and Fox Valley Tennis Halls of Fame and was an accomplished athlete himself, earning a spot in the Luther College (Iowa) Hall of Fame. Berven was the Iowa Conference singles runner-up and also played basketball in college. He graduated in 1963 and earned a Master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1967.
Berven helped lead his Austin (Minn.) High School basketball team to the 1958 Minnesota state championship under the coaching of his father, Ove, who guided Austin to two state titles and 14 trips to the state tournament.
Berven and his late wife, Donna, have three children, Greg, Christina and Ben. They also have five grandchildren.
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