Julianne Marie Sitch (born September 18, 1983) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

defender. She is currently a coach for the

Chicago Red Stars The Chicago Red Stars are a professional women's soccer club based in Bridgeview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league, they have played in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) sin ...

and head coach of the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

men's soccer team. In 2022, she became the first woman in NCAA history to lead a men’s team to a national championship.

Early life

Born and raised in Oswego,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, Sitch attended Oswego High School and played for the Region II Olympic Development Program.

DePaul University

Sitch attended

DePaul University DePaul University is a private, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-century French priest Saint Vincent de Paul. In 1998, it became the largest Ca ...

where she set career records in goals, assists, and points. In 2005, she ended her DePaul career as the program's all-time leading scorer with 32 goals and 26 assists.

Club career

Melbourne Victory

In 2009, Sitch signed with the

Melbourne Victory FC Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory ...

in Australia's W-League. She was voted team MVP.

Sky Blue FC

In 2009, Sitch played for

Sky Blue FC NJ/NY Gotham FC is a professional women's soccer team based in Harrison, New Jersey. Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sky Blue FC from 2008 until 2020. A founding member of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in 2013 ...

during the inaugural season of the

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 sea ...

(WPS). She started 11 of 16 regular season games and scored one goal on June 28 during a match against the

Saint Louis Athletica Saint Louis Athletica was an American professional soccer club that was based in the St. Louis suburb of Fenton, Missouri that participated in Women's Professional Soccer. Athletica started the 2009 season playing its home games at Ralph Korte S ...

Chicago Red Stars (WPS)

Sitch signed with her hometown team, the

, for the

2010 WPS season The 2010 Women's Professional Soccer season was the second season for the WPS, the top level professional women's soccer league in the United States. Regular season champion FC Gold Pride won the WPS Championship on September 26 with a 4-0 victor ...

. Of her signing, she was quoted, "I am very happy to be coming home to Chicago to continue my playing career. I've always dreamt about playing in my hometown, where all of my family and friends—who have supported me throughout my career—can come and watch. I love Chicago. I love Toyota Park and the energy it brings to the game. I couldn't be more happy." Sitch made 13 appearances for the Red Stars logging a total of 358 minutes.

Atlanta Beat

After the Chicago Red Stars ceased operations in the WPS and Sitch was briefly picked up by the

Western New York Flash The Western New York Flash (WNY Flash) was an American soccer club based in Elma, New York that competed in the United Women's Soccer league. They have won league championships in four different leagues: the USL W-League in 2010, Women's Pro ...

, Sitch signed with the Atlanta Beat of the WPS for the 2011 season. She made two appearances for the club, totaling 118 minutes.

Chicago Red Stars (WPSL Elite)

Sitch played for the

in the

Women's Premier Soccer League Elite The Women's Premier Soccer League Elite (WPSL Elite) was a women's semi-professional soccer league created by the Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) to support the sport in the United States, both from continued interest by WPSL teams in profess ...

(WPSL-Elite) during the summer of 2012.

Hammarby IF

In 2012, Sitch spent a season with Hammarby IF and roomed with her Red Stars teammate, Lori Chalupny. She scored one goal and captained her team to promotion to the

Damallsvenskan The Damallsvenskan, Swedish for ''ladies all-Swedish'' and also known as OBOS Damallsvenskan for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is also referred to as the women's Allsvenskan. The term Allsvenskan ...

that season.

Chicago Red Stars (NWSL)

In 2013, Sitch returned to the Red Stars for the inaugural season of the National Women's Soccer League. She was waived by the Red Stars on July 31, 2014. She officially announced her retirement as an active player on April 9, 2015.

International career

Sitch was a member of the United States U-21 women's national soccer team that won the Nordic Cup in 2004.

Coaching career

Sitch served as an assistant coach for the

women's soccer team from 2015 to 2017. She became an assistant coach for the

UIC Flames The UIC Flames are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Chicago, located in Chicago, Illinois, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association ...

in 2018. In February 2020, Sitch returned to the

organization to serve as an assistant first team coach and also the manager for reserve team in the

Women's Premier Soccer League The Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) is an amateur women's soccer league in the United States and Canada. It is the top amateur league for women's soccer in the United States soccer pyramid, below only National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). ...

. Since April 20, 2022, Sitch has been the head coach of the University of Chicago men's soccer team.

References

External links

Melbourne Victory player profile

Chicago Red Stars player profile

Women's Professional Soccer player profile

DePaul player profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sitch, Julianne 1983 births Living people DePaul Blue Demons women's soccer players American women's soccer players Melbourne Victory FC (A-League Women) players NJ/NY Gotham FC players Western New York Flash players Atlanta Beat (WPS) players Expatriate women's soccer players in Australia Hammarby Fotboll (women) players Damallsvenskan players Chicago Red Stars players Women's Premier Soccer League Elite players Bälinge IF players Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden American expatriate women's soccer players USL W-League (1995–2015) players American expatriate sportspeople in Sweden American expatriate sportspeople in Australia Women's association football defenders National Women's Soccer League players People from Oswego, Illinois Soccer players from Illinois F.C. Indiana players Chicago Red Stars non-playing staff Women's Professional Soccer players Chicago Maroons men's soccer coaches Chicago Cobras players