Bill Holleman
has made an impact in the development, coaching and administration
of the game of soccer, not only in North Carolina, but also
in the south and in the nation. After completing undergraduate
work in history, health and physical education in 1968 at
Campbell College, he taught and coached for one year at
Raleigh’s Sanderson High School and then moved to
Ravenscroft School (Raleigh), where he spent ten years as
a teacher, soccer coach and athletic director. In 1979,
Bill moved to Atlanta to begin a 14-year stretch as athletic
director and men’s soccer coach at The Lovett School.
World Cup, USA, called on him in 1993 to serve as the Venue
Executive Director for the Detroit venue of World Cup 1994,
an assignment which he followed in 1995-96 as president
of the Birmingham Olympic Soccer Organizing Committee. Detroit
was the site of the first World Cup matches in history played
indoors on natural grass. Bill is now athletic director
and head men’s soccer coach at Shiloh High School
in Atlanta.
Bill is married
to the former Kay Barnes of Fairmont, NC, also a graduate
(in 1969) of Campbell College. They are the parents of two
sons – Todd, a graduate of the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill and Wake Forest University Law School,
who is currently a lawyer in Atlanta, and Chad, who graduated
from the University of Georgia and is now a free agent as
a place kicker with the New England Patriots. Bill earned
a Master of Arts in Teaching in 1971 from UNC-CH. He holds
a USSF “A” coaching license and is nationally
certified as an athletic administrator and as a national
trainer for Reebok Vision Training.
Bill’s
impact in soccer coaching was first felt during his long
tenure at Ravenscroft. His win-loss-tie record during that
period was 224-37-13 and his 1977 and 1978 teams were North
Carolina Independent Schools state champions. At Lovett,
where his record was 189-50-23, Bill’s teams won state
all-classification championships in 1984, 1985, 1986 and
1989. Numerous players were named to all-state teams while
he was at both schools, seventeen players were selected
as All-South, and six players were honored as All-Americans.
In addition, one player coached by Bill was selected as
a member of the U-17 National Team. Bill’s overall
record as a high school soccer coach now stands at 429-102-36.
Bill has also excelled in club coaching, leading teams to
state and regional championships in the U-12, U-14, U-16
and U-19 age groups and one team to the USYSA John D. Niotis
U-16 National Championship tournament.
Honors accrued
by Bill during his twenty-four years of soccer coaching
at Ravenscroft and Lovett included:
? Regional Coach of the Year in 1978, 1985 and 1989 for
National High School Athletic Coaches Association and the
National Soccer Coaches Association of America
? Coach at the National High School All Star Game at West
Point, NY, in 1985
? 1987 NSCAA/NISOA Merit Award for Secondary Schools
? NSCAA National High School Coach of the Year, 1989
? All-Classification Georgia High School Athletic Director
of the Year, 1990
? NSCAA Letter of Commendation in 1992
? Silver Boot Award, Georgia State Soccer Association, 1992
? Inaugural inductee into the Ravenscroft School Sports
Hall of Fame, 1994
Bill’s
strength as a soccer organizer was first seen in 1971 and
1972 when he conceived of and was one of the original board
members of the Raleigh Soccer League, predecessor to the
Capital Area Soccer League. In the early 1980’s, recognizing
the pioneer work of several people, CASL identified Bill
and three others – Steve Almasi, Pat Hamilton and
Bill Plunkett -- as cofounders of the Raleigh Soccer League
and CASL. Bill also was the founder and served four times
as president of the North Carolina Scholastic Soccer Coaches
Association. In addition, he held all elective offices of
the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, including
the presidency for 1988 and 1989.