Ditta headed for UCI

Mike Ditta’s new job is to recruit.

Because of this athletic director Eric Tweit’s latest job is to find a boys’ soccer coach to replace Ditta at Newport Harbor High.

Ditta said Thursday he’s leaving the Sailors after a successful first season as the walk-on coach to join the UC Irvine’s men soccer program as an assistant coach.

Ditta, 35, said the decision to step down after guiding Newport Harbor to its best finish in the CIF Southern Section Division I playoffs was certainly tough. The Sailors advanced to the quarterfinals and went 13-7-4, 5-3-2 in the Sunset League, good for third place, an upgrade for a team winning two matches in 2008.

“Within the last year, I’ve become interested in coaching at the Division I level in college,” said Ditta, who last season served as an assistant with the Santiago Canyon College men’s soccer program. “This is a huge stepping stone.

Ditta said he will be responsible for recruiting and administrative responsibilities at UCI, which gained a lot of notoriety last season.

The Anteaters completed their finest season, going 15-2-6 and making their NCAA Tournament debut after winning the Big West Conference regular-season championship and the conference tournament title.

UCI lost to St. John’s, 3-2, in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.

“I didn’t know I was not going to be able to coach at Newport Harbor [before I applied for the UCI job], but because of an NCAA rule saying you can’t coach the same gender, I can’t,” said Ditta, who plans to stay on as director of the Mission Viejo Pateadores, a successful club soccer program. “If I could, I would [coach the Sailors as well]. I found out about the rule when I started interviewing for the position.”

Tweit said Thursday he did not know Ditta interviewed or accepted a job with the Anteaters.

“As far as I know, he is,” Tweit said of Ditta still being Newport Harbor’s coach.

If Tweit needs a coach, Ditta recommended someone.

“Ignacio Cid. He was my assistant last year,” Ditta said. “He lives in Newport.”

Ditta is a 1999 graduate of Azusa Pacific and went on to complete his masters degree in education administration from National University in Costa Mesa.

“We are very excited about Mike Ditta accepting an assistant coaching position with the program here at UC Irvine,” UCI Coach George Kuntz said in a release. “We feel Mike will add to our program in many areas such as; his ability coaching players NCAA Division I level, his recruiting knowledge of the talent base inside and outside of California, high level organizational skills, being well respected in the soccer coaching community, and his desire to assist in developing the UC Irvine men’s soccer program to new heights.”

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected].