After more than two decades at Rancho Cucamonga High School, Athletic Director William “Bill” Burke has seen championships, coaching changes, and thousands of student athletes move through the school’s halls.
If you were to ask him what defines the athletic program, he won’t mention the accomplishments first. He won’t point to the school’s high student athlete population or the league titles across the sports at the school. His first mention will always be the kids in the athletics program.
“I always want to make sure the kids come first in everything we do,” Burke said. “We wouldn’t be in education if it weren’t for the kids.”
Burke, who has spent 26 years at Rancho and currently directs one of the largest athletic programs in the region, built his leadership philosophy around stability, communication, and trust. With over 1,200 student-athletes participating year-round, his management has consistently kept Rancho and Etiwanda at the top of the county for athlete enrollment. Burke sees his job not just as managing, but creating an environment where young athletes can feel supported, seen, and valued.
His mindset was shaped long before he stepped into administration at Rancho. Burke originally majored in psychology before beginning his coaching career at Damien High School in 1992.
“I always wanted to coach basketball,” Burke said. “I love basketball, and I love being around kids, and that led me to where I’m at right now.”
He taught at Sierra Vista and coached at Ontario and Garey High School before coming to RCHS in 2000, taking a shot at an open coaching position and finding his new home.
Today, the center of his work remains relationships, not only with players, but with the coaches who help run the program. One of the defining features of the Athletic Department is continuity. Many coaches have been at the school for decades, and former athletic directors still work at the school. That consistency has shaped a culture of tight collaboration that helps RCHS athletics thrive.
“We’ve always had an excellent athletic program, and our coaches have always stayed the same,” Burke said. “We pride ourselves on being close and being good friends.”
Still leaning on the guidance of longtime colleagues, he tries to offer the same support to others.
“If coaches have an issue, they know they can sit down with me, and we can iron it out. They know I have their backs,” Burke said.
Students see that, too, including his son. RCHS sophomore Brody Burke grew up around the RCHS athletics program. Watching his father shape teams and athletes, he said, the impact his father has is bigger than most people realize.
“My dad is always outgoing to others,” Brody said. “He always puts everyone before himself.”
For Brody, the trust Bill puts in the student athletes isn’t a surprise; it’s something he’s seen at home for years.
Between watching over 20 sports and coaching the boys basketball team, Bill’s schedule hardly slows down, yet he prioritizes being present to the best of his ability.
“We try to go to as many events as possible,” Bill said. “If they[kids] feel like they can come into my office and sit down and talk to me, that means everything. That means they trust me.”
To coach, his discipline and motivation go beyond the sports themselves, being the initiator for students, helping them to forge new paths for themselves.
“Right now, I believe in the district and in the county, we have the most athletes on a high school campus. We and Etiwanda are one and two every year. So that speaks a lot. Over 1,200 kids are participating in athletics right now, and that’s what that’s what we like to see,” said Bill.
Looking forward, Bill aims to keep on succeeding not just on the court, but in the mentality of the students going forward.
“Our always-our goal is to win league titles and save championships. That’s the that’s the, you know, that’s what we’re here for. We are here to win. Are we going to win in every single sport and every single year? No. But our goal on all levels is every coach wants to win. You want to be coaching if you didn’t want to win. We just want to make sure that we have, we show consistency from year to ear, and that the kids, not only on the campus, but the kids that are coming in from our feeder schools, want to be here, and want to participate in sports, and that’s what we want to see,” Bill said.
