Steve Bellis

Steve Bellis was hired as head women's soccer coach at Concordia University on February 4, 2011. He joined the Golden Bear sidelines after five seasons as head coach of St. Catherine University women's soccer...

He led the 2015 Golden Bears to the NSIC Tournament after a four game winning streak in league play set up a strong finish that had the Golden Bears producing two wins and a tie in the last four games to surge into the postseason.

In his first two seasons, the Golden Bears narrowly missed the eight team NSIC Tournament field with ninth place finishes despite a pair of strong seasons.

In his first season with Concordia, the Golden Bears went 7-10 overall and 6-7 in conference play, finishing just a win out of sixth and four points (a win and a tie) out of fourth place in a closely contested NSIC slate.

In his second season in 2012, the Golden Bears added the win and the tie necessary the previous season but still missed out on postseason play, just two points out of eighth and a win (three points) out of seventh in the 16-team league.

While competing hard on the field, the team earned the NSCAA Team Academic Award under Bellis in each of his first four years leading the program.

Bellis became the first coach in Concordia's DII era history to lead his program to back to back double digit winning season finishing 10-8-1 in 2017, and 10-6-3 in 2018.

The 2019 Golden Bear soccer team had an historic season under Steve Bellis as he led his squad to the best record in program history with a 17-3-3 record and a 12-1-2 record in conference play along with a NSIC regular season title. With the best record in program history and hosting and playing in their first ever conference tournament championship game Bellis led the team to their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance and winning their first ever NCAA Tournament game in a shootout victory over Northeastern State. Bellis was named NSIC Coach of the Year and he and he and his staff were awarded the Central Region Coaching Staff of the Year. Bellis oversaw one of the best defenses in the country in 2019, setting a program record with 15 shutouts, and a .63 goals against average, while holding their opponents to only 8.6 shots per game. Bellis's 2019 team had a streak of six shutouts in a row and a stretch of seven wins in a row during the season.

Along with their tenacious defense in 2019 the Golden Bears had one of the best offensive seasons in program history as well. They set a program record in total goals (43), points (121), shots (382), shots on goal (192), game winning goals (17) and shots per game (16.6). They also finished the season tied for second in program history in assists (35) and second in program history in goals per game (1.87).

Bellis brings 15-plus years of soccer coaching experience to Concordia University, with a strong passion for the game of soccer and a commitment to a well-rounded student-athlete experience.

His previous three seasons at St. Kate's included the Wildcats earning the NSCAA Team Academic Award, while he guided the team to one of their most successful campaigns on the field in school history. The 2008 Wildcats posted a 9-7-2 overall finish which included a program record four MIAC victories.

He was no stranger to success coaching in the MIAC prior to his St. Kate's days, as he was an assistant coach for Macalester College, helping them reach two consecutive NCAA Division III National Championship contests, winning the 1998 National Championship before finishing as 1999 National Runner-Up. In addition to his assistant coaching duties at Macalester from 1998-2004, Bellis was head coach of the Junior Varsity squad for the Scots.

His strong recruitment efforts, based on his connections with Minnesota Thunder Academy (2008-10), Minnesota Youth Soccer Association (2000-present) and Coerver Coaching (2000-present) helped him solidify a Junior Varsity program at St. Kate's in his tenure as well.

Between his MIAC stints with Macalester and St. Kate's, Bellis coached the Wings Soccer Club as full time director of coaching and player development from 1998-2007 and was head girls varsity soccer coach at Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield, Minn.

Bellis is a native of Manchester, England and earned a bachelor of arts (BA) in applied sport studies and social science from Lancaster University in Lancaster, U.K.

His breakthrough in coaching came after receiving his degree when he worked as a Center of Excellence U13 Coach for Manchester United Football Club from 1995 to 1998. There, he coached players who would later move on to professional experience with Manchester United.

He holds the UEFA B coaching license, the NSCAA Advanced National, the USSF B and National Youth coaching licenses. He is a member of the NSCAA and the English FA coaching association.

He played from 1992 to 1998 for Chorley AFC in Lancashire, U.K.

Bellis earned his Master's degree in sport management from Concordia University in August, 2018.

Steve resides in Minneapolis with his daughters, Pippa and Ruby.