New Trier’s Burnside is national soccer coach of the year

New Trier girls soccer is a winning program — an .844 winning percentage over 28 years is impossible to dispute.

The Trevians’ winning is so prolific it often extends beyond the pitch, as it did recently at the National High School Athletic Coaches Association annual convention in South Dakota.

Head coach Jim Burnside, a Wilmette resident, was named the NHSACA soccer (girls/boys) coach of the year, adding another accolade to an already bursting resume.

“There are a lot of phenomenal coaches out there with a lot of great resumes, people who have won a lot of state championships, won a lot of games, and impacted kids in so many different ways,” Burnside told The Record. “It’s an honor to be included in that and hear what others have done and have my name said in the same breath as those people.”

A local soccer coaches association nominated Burnside for the honor, and earlier this year, he learned he was one of eight finalists from across the nation. The NHSACA recognized the soccer coaches and coaches in several categories in Rapid City, South Dakota, from June 21-25.

Burnside was one of two coaches from Illinois (Jeff Siegal, special sports-cheer, Buffalo Grove High School) to win their category.

Burnside’s Trevians won the IHSA Class 4 championship in June 2024, the program’s seventh state title, all won under the Burnside’s leadership.

Since taking over the program in 1997, Burnside has won 633 matches, the top total in the state and top five in the nation, according to the National Federation of High Schools.

Aside from that, with Burnside at the helm, New Trier girls soccer has won 21 league championships, 28 regional titles (in 28 years), 20 sectional crowns and 13 state trophies (7 firsts, 3 second, 3 thirds).

For his efforts, Burnside has earned various state and national honors, including induction into the Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2017.

And he has helped raise more than $70,000 for various charities through team fundraisers since 2009.

In a social media post, the New Trier Athletic Department announced Burnside’s recent accolade and wrote, “His dedication, passion, and leadership have inspired countless athletes at New Trier.”

Burnside called the national honor a “team award,” giving credit to all of those around him.

“The stats are there, the accomplishments are there, but it’s having worked with so many amazing players, parents, coaches, school administration,” he said. “It is the standard response, but it is also the appropriate and correct response.

“That honor is owned by all of those players who have put in countless hours in the weight room, countless hours on the field. … It’s a team effort that has added up to something that I am very proud of — the impact I’ve been able to have on the people I’ve come into contact with and the impact they’ve had on me.”

The Record is a nonprofit, nonpartisan community newsroom that relies on reader support to fuel its independent local journalism.

Become a member of The Record to fund responsible news coverage for your community.

Already a member? You can make a tax-deductible donation at any time.