For the first time in over three decades, the University of Denver women’s soccer job opened up last month. Soccer circles noticed.
Even with 33 NCAA Division I women’s soccer jobs open in this hiring cycle, “a very deep pool of applicants” raised their hands when the DU gig became available in May after the athletic department announced Jeff Hooker would not return after 31 seasons, per a department spokesman. Julianne Sitch, 39, who was announced as the program’s head coach Wednesday, had one of the deepest résumés of them all.
“Coach Sitch, put simply, is the most exceptional fit we could find for DU Athletics competitively, academically and socially,” Josh Berlo, DU vice chancellor for athletics, said Thursday at Sitch’s introductory news conference. “She’s had success everywhere she’s gone … She’s the perfect fit for the University of Denver.”
Sitch made headlines last fall at the University of Chicago when she became the first-ever woman to coach a men’s team to a title across any sport in NCAA history. But her journey to DU is more than one magical College Cup run at the Division III level.
Now that she’s got her shot, she’s eager to prove she can continue the storied success at DU, which has made nine NCAA Tournament appearances, including a run in 2012 to the Sweet 16.
“The rich history of the program and the athletic department (appealed to me), all of the coaches are successful and you’ve got some who built their programs from the ground up,” Sitch told The Post Thursday in a phone interview. “That was really inspiring to me and to be apart of an athletic department like that, that really supports their student-athletes, coaches and being able to find that success.”
Sitch, a native of Oswego, Ill., blazed her way through a collegiate career at DePaul and then virtually every level of the ever-changing American women’s soccer landscape in the mid-2000s and early 2010s. She played in the second-tier USL W-League as well as top-flight-seasons in the Women’s Professional Soccer (league) and NWSL with the Chicago Red Stars. She played abroad in Australia and Sweden for good measure.
Her coaching career began with the Maroons’ women’s team from 2015-17. Her lengthy playing career helped land an assistant role on the U.S. U-16 national team for two years. Sitch returned to the Red Stars in 2020 and, despite doubling up last fall, managed to lead the Maroons’ men’s team to an undefeated season.
Tactically, Sitch wants DU to be a possession-oriented team that is rooted in resiliency and will compete for every ball, while also being defensively sound.
“I really hope to bring value to this team where we appreciate and are grateful for things, we continue to push hard and try to make things better for ourselves and the next generation that comes after us,” Sitch said. “I hope we can bring fun to the group and that perseverance of working hard and working together and being in a support system, I hope to bring in some of those values.”
Sitch said she will be announcing her full staff in the coming weeks, but is eager to hit the ground running when pre-season starts July 31.
“I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me but I’m really excited about it,” Sitch said. “I just want to continue to make sure I get the right staff in place so we can be the best for the players and put us in the best position for us to be successful this year.”
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