As part of a committee interviewing coaching candidates in the spring of 2022, University of Chicago men’s soccer captain Richard Gillespie wasn’t allowed to share any information with his teammates about the prospects. But that didn’t stop them from asking, and when they did, all of the questions sounded the same: ‘What’s he like?’
But Gillespie couldn’t say a word—or correct his teammates’ questions—since it would have given the best candidate away. Because soon enough, Julianne Sitch would become one of just two women coaching a men’s soccer team in NCAA Division III, and less than eight months later, she would make history as the first woman to coach an NCAA men’s soccer team, in any division, to a national championship.
The significance of this accomplishment cannot be overstated, even though Sitch herself may say otherwise. The former Red Stars defender and assistant coach came to UChicago for one purpose—and it wasn’t to make history.
