Former National Coach of the Year and NCAA Champion, in his first two years at Creighton, Elmar Bolowich led the Bluejays Men's Varsity Soccer team to two College Cups in 2011 and 2012. Prior to joining the Jays, Coach Bolowich was at the helm at North Carolina from 1989 to 2010. The winningest coach in the history of North Carolina men’s soccer, Coach Bolowich is bringing those winning ways to Creighton.
Bolowich led the Tar Heels to their only national title in program history to conclude the 2001 season. He guided UNC to 15 NCAA Tournament appearances and four College Cups, including three straight trips to college soccer’s Final Four in his final three seasons in Chapel Hill. Six of his teams advanced to at least the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament and three teams captured at least a share of the ACC regular-season title in addition to winning the 2000 ACC Tournament championship. Bolowich, a two-time ACC Coach of the Year (2000, 2010), led his teams to ACC regular-season titles in 2000, 2009 and 2010, putting together an unbeaten mark (7-0-1) in one of the nation's strongest soccer conference in 2010. He is one of only five active coaches in NCAA Division I soccer to lead a team to six College Cup appearances.
Creighton Director of Athletics Bruce Rasmussen announced the hiring of Bolowich on February 9, 2011, stating, “Elmar Bolowich had long-term success as the head coach at the University of North Carolina in the toughest soccer conference in the country. Elmar's players have consistently demonstrated high academic achievement, they have been very involved in their community, they play aggressive, fun-to-watch soccer and they have represented themselves, their program and their University with great class and character. Elmar is a great teacher of the game who has consistently recruited, retained, developed and graduated outstanding young men. Above all else, Elmar is an outstanding person – we welcome him to the Creighton family and Omaha community."
In addition to exceling on the field, Bolowich’s teams both at UNC and Creighton have also exceled in the classroom earning several honors at the University level and at the conference level.
Bolowich not only produces winning collegiate teams, but he has a proven track record of developing young men into international and professional players. Twenty-one players who were coached by Bolowich at UNC played professionally in 2010, including 11 in Major League Soccer and three abroad. In total, Bolowich has coached 33 players that have been selected in MLS drafts since 1996, including a school-record tying four in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft.
A native of Edenkoben, Germany, Bolowich played and coached at the semi-professional level in his native country at Wiesbaden, Mainz and Cuxhaven. He played collegiately and graduated from the University of Mainz (Germany) in 1981 with a diploma in sports education. Prior to his time at Mainz, he served two years in the German Luftwaffe (Air Force).
In addition to holding a USSF A-License, Bolowich received his coaching license from the German Football Federation in 1981. Bolowich was active in youth soccer in North Carolina, serving as a regional staff coach with the U.S. Soccer Federation’s Olympic Development Program for Region III and as Director of Coaching for the North Carolina Youth Soccer Association. He coached the Durham-Chapel Hill Strikers U-19 club team to the 1990 Maguire Cup Final Four and starting in 2007 he coached the Triangle United Soccer Association’s boys Gold team, leading them to three state and regional championships. TUSA also advanced to two national finals under his guidance.
In January 2011, Coach Bolowich was inducted into the North Carolina Soccer Hall of Fame in Greensboro, NC. In both 2000 and 2001 he was named the NSCAA South Region Coach of the Year and in 1999 he was given the National Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association National Merit award, which is given annually to one college coach whose reputation is recognized by soccer officials as praiseworthy and reflective of the highest standards of professional and ethical behavior.
Bolowich and his wife of 25 years, Nina, have a daughter, Alya (23) and a son, Alex (20). Alex will be a redshirt junior on the Creighton Men's soccer team in fall of 2013.
Coach Bolowich brings his passion for soccer and developing players to the Creighton Soccer Academy this summer. As an experienced and successful director of Carolina Soccer Camp since 1990, he knows how to create a fun yet challenging environment to learn soccer. He is personally at every camp session, hand picks his staff, designs every curriculum, and makes sure that quality of camp is what you can expect.
Dear Camp Participants,
A great experience awaits you this summer! The training at our Academy has proven to be one of the most advanced, demanding, and fun in the country. We show players how to improve during the Academy with inspirational demonstrations, challenging soccer drills and top level coaching.
Graduates of the Academy have gone on to play professionally, obtained college scholarships, and excelled on their club and high school teams. We have developed many professional players at Creighton and are the only collegiate program in the United States to have a player drafted every year into the MLS. No matter what your goals are as a player, we will have staff to help you obtain it. We are confident that our methods for developing players will work for you too! You will improve after following our program.
I hope that you join us this summer. Enrollment is limited. I will be personally involved on the field every day to ensure that you have a great experience.
See you soon,
Coach Elmar Bolowich
