DARLINGTON — Tom Uppena has announced that he is stepping down as the boys basketball coach of the Darlington Redbirds.

The Redbirds just concluded a season in which they went 23-4 and reached the Division 4 sectional semifinal on March 12 when they lost to the Cambridge Blue Jays 64-56. Darlington won the SWAL conference title with a record of 11-1 and won a Regional Championship with a 75-42 win over Iowa-Grant on March 7. During the season, the Redbirds enjoyed a 16 game winning streak.

Uppena talked about his decision to step down. “It was a hard decision. I felt it was the right time.” He said the kids on his team are the best part of coaching and it’s tough to step away from them.

“That was the hardest part of this decision, being around the kids” Uppena said. “It was a good 10 seasons and a fast 10 seasons.”

Uppena compiled a record of 213-44 in those 10 seasons and got his 200th coaching win on Jan. 20 with a 70-41 win over Southwestern. Darlington’s best season under Uppena came in his very first year in the 2016-2017 season when the Redbirds went 27-1 with their only loss coming in the WIAA Division 4 State Championship game to Milwaukee Destiny. Uppena was named SWAL Coach of the Year in 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024, and 2026. Under Uppena, the Redbirds won six SWAL championships.

Uppena is a native of Cassville and won a high school basketball championship playing for his father, Dennis Uppena, a Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Famer. Uppena graduated from UW-Platteville in 2006 and played college basketball for the Pioneers. Uppena said his father coached for 29 years and is quite familiar with the life of a basketball coach. “He’s been through it and he eventually stepped down and he’s supportive of my decision,” replied Uppena.

In addition to coaching basketball, Uppena is a guidance counselor at Darlington High School and plans to continue doing that.

“I want to stay in Darlington and not go anywhere else,” he said.

As for what’s next, “I’ll take one year off and not do any coaching. I’ll jump into the youth world with my boys,” he added.

Uppena and his wife, Molly, have been married for 12 years and have two sons, Leo and Frankie, ages seven and five.

In addition to his 10 years as the boys head basketball coach, Uppena coached junior varsity boys basketball for four years and freshman boys basketball for one year.