Bill Holleman

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.