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Prep notes: Catholic Memorial's Burke named national coach of the year

12/19/2013, 12:45am CST
By ERIC ANDERSON
John Burke

Back in 2002, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America annual convention was in Philadelphia and Waukesha Catholic Memorial's John Burke was named national Coach of the Year for Private/Parochial high school girls teams.

Next month, the NSCAA convention again will be in The City of Brotherly Love and Burke will be presented with the same award. The only difference is that this time, he was told about the honor before the NSCAA Awards Banquet, which is Jan. 17 – in past years, the eight regional winners didn't know who had claimed the national award until the ceremony.

"I was surprised," Burke said. "The guy called me up from North Carolina last week and said that I would get this award, and I said, 'You mean the Midwest (Region), right? Because (the national award) wouldn't be announced yet.' But he said, 'No, we're telling people ahead of time.' "

Burke, the winningest coach in Wisconsin girls soccer history with a 405-45-31 record in 19 seasons, is one of only three state coaches to earn the award and the first to do so twice – former Milwaukee Marquette boys coach Bob Spielmann won it in 1996, while Madison Edgewood girls coach Chris Martinelli was honored in 2011.

"Whenever you get honored by your peers, I think it's special because they know what is involved in trying to put together a season that's a quality experience for kids," Burke said. "I'm honored to get any kind of recognition, obviously, but it's especially meaningful from your peers."

Catholic Memorial (23-0-1) won its second straight WIAA Division 2 state title and sixth overall, one behind Whitefish Bay's record total, last spring. It was the Crusaders' eighth appearance in the state final in the past 10 years and they were the first unbeaten Division 2 state champion in the division's 17-year history.

"We're doing things that not a lot of teams are able to do, with such a small school – we're only 650 students, and it's not often that a small school can compete with the largest schools, with all the facilities they have and all the amenities," Burke said. "So I'm really proud of the kids. ... They play a schedule that, first of all not a lot of small schools play, but then to have success that not a lot of small schools have, too."

In 2014, Catholic Memorial will be in Division 3 as the WIAA tournament expands to four divisions – essentially the former Division 2 field will now be Division 3, with the old Division 3 becoming Division 4. The former Division 1 field will be split into two, with the smaller half of those schools making up the new-look Division 2.

The WIAA allows teams to request to "play up" one division for the tournament, but Burke said that Catholic Memorial policy doesn't allow it.

"I think the wisdom of it is once you allow coaches of a school to start to decide when to bump up or when to not ... everyone would second-guess anytime you did it," he said. "But if you play where you're assigned, you're just playing where you're assigned."

  • The Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association launched a redesigned website last month, and the organization is looking for help as it develops state record books for both boys and girls soccer. A draft version of the record book is posted (pdf); current and former coaches and others with relevant information are asked to email updates to Burke at xjxj@yahoo.com and include "WSCA Record Book" in the subject line.
  • Milwaukee Marquette's Danny Jarosz and the West team dropped a 1-0 decision to the East in the weather-shortened High School Boys Soccer All-American Game on Saturday in Downingtown, Pa. A first-half own goal accounted for the lone goal of the match, which was called after 53 minutes as officials deemed the field unplayable following 3 hours of snowfall. Jarosz was the fourth Wisconsin player to participate in the third annual event, which features some the nation's top seniors from the fall prep season. The NSCAA wasn't able to stream the match live as planned because of the weather, but posted some highlights and interviews:

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