Peachtree Ridge Lions Soccer

"A TRIBUTE TO A TRUE LION"

BILL HOLLEMAN

We would like to take this opportunity to recognize a very special member of the Peachtree Ridge Academic and Soccer Community.

With the spring of 2012 completed, Coach Holleman’s final season, his career record stands at 617 Wins, 184 Losses, and 50 Ties – an astonishing 74% winning percentage.

Through 39 years of coaching, his contribution to the sport has gone well beyond his incredible win-loss record. At Campbell College in North Carolina, Bill discovered two of the great passions of his life: his wife Kay and the sport of soccer. Coach Holleman was a main stay on the Campbell College team, where his fascination and love for the game would grow and become an important part of his life’s work.

After graduating from Campbell in 1968, Bill started his High School teaching and coaching career at Ravenscroft School in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he compiled a 224-37-13 record. His 1977 and 1978 teams were North Carolina State Champions. During this same period of time, Coach Holleman founded and served on the board of the Raleigh Soccer League, predecessor to the Capital Area Soccer League (CASL), which has grown into more than 15,000 members.

In 1979, Coach Holleman and his family moved to Atlanta where he began a 14-year stint as the Athletic Director and Soccer Coach at Lovett High School. At Lovett, he compiled a 189-50-23 record. His 1984, 1985, 1986, and 1989 teams won all-classification state championships. He was also active in the club soccer ranks in Atlanta, and he is recognized as the founder of the Concorde Soccer Club – recognized as the #1 elite soccer club in all of Georgia. His club teams won five state club championships and two regional championships across four different age groups, with his U-16 team earning a trip to the National Championships. From Lovett, Coach Holleman moved to Shiloh High School where his 2003 team once again propelled him to the top of Georgia High School Soccer. On the way to his 5^th Georgia state high school championship, he compiled an 18-3-1 record. His career record at Shiloh High School stands at 94-21-3.

In 2004, Coach Holleman became the inaugural Director of Student Activities and Athletics at Peachtree Ridge High School. At Peachtree Ridge he started the Lion’s soccer program from the ground up. In 2009, Bill added the girl’s varsity soccer team to his list of activities. He coached the boy’s varsity team until 2010 – giving way at the time to current Boy’s Coach Ryan Sutton. He coached the varsity girl’s team through his retirement in the spring of 2012. Ending his prestigious career on a high note, Coach Holleman’s Lady Lions won Peachtree Ridge High School’s first ever Region VII AAAAA championship. At Peachtree Ridge, Coach Holleman compiled a 110-76-11 record.

His career has not been limited to the sidelines, as he has played key roles in a number of soccer related activities, most notably the organizer and manager of the Detroit, Michigan, venue for the 1994 FIFA Men’s World Cup. The venue was the first time that FIFA ever used a real grass field in an indoor facility. During the Olympics, Coach Holleman served as President of the Birmingham Alabama Olympic Soccer Organizing Committee. The venue drew some of the largest crowds leading up to the Olympic Games.

He has been inducted as a member of the Campbell University Athletic Hall of Fame, The Ravenscroft School Hall of Fame, The Georgia Soccer Hall of Fame, The North Carolina Soccer Hall of Fame, North Carolina Scholastic Soccer Coaches Association Hall of Fame, and the Capital Area Soccer League Hall of Fame.

He was recognized as a Regional Coach of the Year in 1978, 1985, and 1989 by the National Soccer Coaches of America and National High School Coaches Association. He has earned the distinction of National Soccer Coaches of America “National Coach of the Year” not once, but twice, in 1989 and again in 2006.

Starting in 1942, the National Soccer Coaches of America began recognizing one individual annually whose contribution to the sport of soccer and to coaching sets them apart from their national peers. Bill Holleman was given this most prestigious honor in 2001.

While his accomplishments in the sport of soccer are many, his true success is not measured by the winning teams he has coached, the organizations he has led, or the awards he has received, but rather, by the players he has taught and coached over the years. The impact Coach Holleman has had on the lives of thousands of students and soccer players across the southeast United States goes well beyond their accomplishments on the field and carries over to the success most of them now enjoy in their lives.

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