Longtime Libertyville High Soccer Coach Steps Down

LIBERTYVILLE, IL - After 53 seasons and nearly 800 wins as the head coach for Libertyville's boys and girls soccer teams, Andy Bitta is stepping down to focus on his health, the Libertyville Review reports.

Bitta, 63, gave up his coaching position last month after being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Kevin Thunholm, who had been the freshman coach for the soccer teams, will take over as head coach when the girls travel to St. Viator for their opening game on March 15, according to the Libertyville Review. Libertyville has not yet hired a head coach for the boys program.

"It is going to be very hard not being there," Bitta told the newspaper. "But I have to gather my health right now."

Bitta launched the boys soccer program in 1977 and then went on to start the girls soccer team in 1981.

The Daily Herald reports:

Including the Libertyville girls team, which Bitta started in 1981, he posted 49 winning records in 53 seasons. He won seven state trophies between the two teams, including two championships: the single-class 1991 girls state title and the Class 3A boys title in 2015. Between the two teams, he won nearly 800 matches.

In recent years, he has been listed as one of the winningest active coaches in the state of Illinois for girls soccer and boys soccer, according to the Libertyville High School website.

In 1991, he was named Coach of the Year for Girls Soccer by the Illinois High School Coaches Association and he received a National Top Twenty High School Soccer Team Award by the National Soccer Coaches Association. In 2001, he was inducted into the Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

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Photo via Libertyville High School