Attorney Thadd Llaurado and other members of the Mike Dillett Memorial Scholarship Foundation will be awarding scholarships this spring to six New Berlin West High School senior soccer players.
The Foundation and Scholarship Fund were started in 2010 by a group of parents and New Berlin West soccer supporters to honor the memory Coach Mike Dillett. Mr. Dillett coached the varsity boys and girls soccer teams at New Berlin West from 2000 through 2009. In the fall of 2009, Mr. Dillett was diagnosed with a fatal brain disease and tragically died thereafter. Mr. Dillett was a fixture in Milwaukee area soccer both as a player and coach and was inducted into the Milwaukee Kickers Fall of Fame. He and his wife Linda raised 12 children. Mr. Dillett also owned a successful heating and cooling business.
“Mike was a passionate, religious family man who warmed the hearts of everyone who met him,” Thadd Llaurado recalled. “He taught his players not only about sportsmanship and love of the game, but he also believed in teaching the virtues he epitomized – character and integrity – both on and off the field.”
Since 2010, the Mike Dillett Scholarship Foundation has offered scholarships to New Berlin West soccer players who have not only shown outstanding academic achievement, but who also demonstrate those characteristics of integrity and sportsmanship Coach Dillett brought to his teams. The scholarships are made possible through the generosity of many individuals, and through the annual Mike Dillett Golf Outing.