Norm Hillner '79 was recently honored by the United Soccer Coaches with the Robert W. Robinson High School Long-Term Service Award for his career contributions and commitment to service as a high school soccer coach and advocate.
Link to United Soccer Coaches Release
Hillner is a member of the Knox-Lombard Athletic Hall of Fame after a standout career on both the soccer pitch and the baseball field. As a soccer player, Hillner was a four-time All-Midwest Conference honoree, a three-time All-Illinois selection and is still the second all-time leading scorer at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill. Hillner graduated from Knox with a degree in economics in 1979 and earned a masters degree in education from the National College of Education in Evanston, Ill., in 1985.
Hillner, a United Soccer Coaches member since 1981, spent 33 years as a high school coach, primarily at Lake Park High School in Roselle, Ill., where he served as boys head coach for 28 years. He was one of the Illinois High School Association's winningest boys' soccer coaches with a career record of 369-211-71. Norm has been an executive board member of the Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association (IHSSCA) since 1986, serving as president in 1988 and again from 2003-2008. He was inducted into the IHSSCA Hall of Fame in 2007.
Hillner has served as the Midwest Region chair of the United Soccer Coaches Boys High School All-America Committee for the past 15 years. In addition, he was the Illinois state chair of the Boys High School Coach of the Year Committee.
As president of the Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association, Hillner was influential in negotiating a partnership with United Soccer Coaches to promote membership, awards, education and the Convention within the state association and the state of Illinois. He assisted several other Midwestern states in organizing similar high school soccer coaches associations for partnerships with United Soccer Coaches.
Recently retired, the former Director of Operations for Men's Soccer at Northwestern University, Hillner remains active with IHSSCA as Executive Board Advisor and chairs its Hall of Fame Committee. He received a Certificate of Appreciation from United Soccer Coaches in 2012 and was a 2014 recipient of its Letter of Commendation.
