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Gretta Macdonald
Gretta (Arvesen) Macdonald begins her ninth season as the head coach of the soccer program at St. Cloud State University in 2022.
A total of 33 Huskies have earned All-NSIC accolades during the Macdonald era at St. Cloud State and her teams have also produced 94 Academic All-NSIC award winners during her tenure on campus - including 16 in 2019.
The Huskies have advanced to the NSIC playoffs five times since 2015 under the leadership of Macdonald, and advanced to the NSIC semifinals in 2019. St. Cloud State's Maria Witte received the prestigious NCAA Women's Enhancement Graduate Scholarship in 2019.
Macdonald made a quick impact on the program at SCSU, which included a nine win season in her second season with the Huskies in 2015. SCSU also returned to the NSIC playoffs in 2015, and has also earned bids to the NSIC tournament in 2016 and 2018. Under Macdonald's leadership, SCSU charted eight NSIC victories in 2015 and 2018.
The Huskies hit record numbers in 2019 under Macdonald's leadership. SCSU posted a 12-5-3 overall record and a 10-3-2 NSIC record, which set a new team standard for most conference wins in a season and was the second most wins charted by the Huskies in a single season.
Prior to her move to SCSU in 2014, Macdonald was an assistant soccer coach at Central Michigan University, an NCAA Division I institution. Her responsibilities included Director of Internal Operations and Director of the CMU Soccer Academy.
At Central Michigan, Macdonald assisted in analyzing, developing and implementing the women’s soccer program. As Director of Internal Operations she was responsible for coordinating academic support, strength and conditioning, compliance, sports information, sports science, marketing, camps and clinics, facilities and equipment. As Director of CMU Soccer Academy, she was responsible for programming Elite ID, Overnight and Day Camps and Soccerfest.
Before joining the Central Michigan soccer staff, Macdonald was on the soccer staff at Minnesota State University, Mankato, serving as an assistant coach from July 2008 to January 2013, and taking on the interim head coach assignment from January to April 2013. While at Minnesota State, she also served as the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) liasion and an assistant professor and instructor in the New Student and Family Programs Department and Human Performance Department.
As the assistant coach for the Mavericks, Arvesen was the recruiting coordinator, managed and directed team operations, supervised academic progress, assisted with budget management, directed MSU Soccer Academy camp programs, directed and implemented community service and outreach events, and assisted with the development and implementation of program-level fundraising.
The Minnesota State University soccer program made four NCAA tournament appearances during her coaching stint, notched 74 wins, won two Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) tournament titles, had five All-Americans and three Capital One Academic All-America team members, earned five straight National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) team academic awards and back-to-back NSCAA Silver Team Sportsmanship and Ethics Awards. Macdonald was involved in numerous community and volunteer activities in Michigan and Minnesota, and participated in professional development programs since 2007.
A native of Pine Springs, Minn., Macdonald played collegiate soccer at Creighton University from 2003 to 2007, earning four letters. She was on the SAAC Committee and Team Leadership Council. The Bluejays won two Missouri Valley Conference Championships and made two NCAA tournament appearances.
After graduating from Creighton with a degree in mass communication and public relations, Macdonald was a graduate assistant coach at South Dakota State University for the 2007-08 season. She has a master’s degree in educational leadership from Minnesota State University.
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