Bilowitz Expects to Keep Coaching

La Canada High boys’ soccer Coach Lou Bilowitz, who suffered two strokes in March, said he expects to recover and coach the Spartans again next season.

Bilowitz, 50, said he temporarily suffered partial paralysis and speech loss when the strokes occurred, but has recovered fully in those areas.

“I’m 100%, just a little weak,” he said. “I still have a blood clot in one of the chambers of my heart, but I’m taking a lot of medicine and it’s my gut feeling that I will be back [coaching] next year.”

In 10 seasons at La Canada, Bilowitz has a record of 194-14-23. The Spartans have won three Southern Section titles in that span, including crowns in 1994 and 1995, when they were a combined 50-0.

Bilowitz was named 1995 national coach of the year in High School Division II by the National Soccer Coaches Assn. of America.

He has had a string of health problems in the past decade, including two heart attacks and a bleeding ulcer.

“I figure since I’ve recovered from all this it’s not my time yet,” Bilowitz said. “And if anything does happen to me it’s going to happen while I’m working with kids, because that’s where I belong.”