Coaches

Steve Bellis

Steve Bellis enters his 12th season in the 2023 season after being named the fifth head coach of the Concordia-St. Paul women's soccer in 2011.


The Manchester, England native enters his 17th season as an NCAA head coach with experience at both the Division II and III levels, having spent his first five years at St. Kate’s. In 2019, Bellis was named the NSIC Coach of the Year, and his coaching staff was named the Central Region Coaching Staff of the Year. That same season they added their first NSIC Regular Season Championship and the first appearance in program history at the NCAA Division II Central Regional, winning a first round matchup against Northeastern State.


In 2016, Bellis became the all-time leader in wins at Concordia after the Golden Bears bested MSU Moorhead on the road to give him his 36th win, surpassing his predecessor Joe Alianiello who held the previous record of 35 wins. He became the first head coach in program history to reach the 100 career win mark during the 2019 season after CSP defeated the Wayne State Wildcats 1-0 at Sea Foam Stadium.


CSP soccer saw instant improvements in Bellis' first season after he led the team to a 7-10 overall and 6-7 conference record, narrowly missing the postseason with a ninth out of 16th finish in the conference standings.


From 2017-2021, Bellis led the Golden Bears to a program-best four consecutive 10-win seasons. During that time, the Golden Bears posted 47-24-10 (35-16-9 NSIC) and four straight conference tournament appearances. Over his tenure, the Golden Bears have posted a 3-5 record in the NSIC tournament and hosted the tournament in 2019, where they collected a pair of wins in a runner-up effort.


Under the leadership of Bellis, the Golden Bears went on a historic run in 2019 with a program-best record of 17-3-3 (12-1-2 NSIC) and the 2019 NSIC Regular Season Conference Championship. A successful regular season and a runner-up finish in the NSIC tournament propelled the Golden Bears to the NCAA Division II Central Regional Tournament, where they earned a shootout victory over Northeastern State.


Bellis oversaw dominance of both sides of the pitch in 2019. CSP's defense was one of the best in the nation, with 15 clean sheets that included a six-game shutout streak and a .63 goals-against average while holding opponents to only 8.6 shots per game. In addition, the CSP offense added school records in total goals (43), points (21), shots (382), shots on goal (192), game-winning goals (17) and shots per game (16.6).


Along with athletic success, Bellis has made it an emphasis for academic success as well. The Golden Bears have accumulated several academic achievements highlighted by Hannah Pavek (2019), who was named CSC Academic All-America and USC Scholar All-Region, and Haleigh Barnes (2019), who was named USC Scholar All-America. The Golden Bears have added 13 CSC Academic All-District recipients and numerous NSIC All-Academic athletes yearly.


Prior to Concordia, Bellis served a five year stint as the head coach at Division III St. Catherine's University. During his time with the Wildcats, they earned the NSCAA Team Academic Award, and he helped them to their best finish in school history in 2008 after posting a 9-7-2 overall record.


Bellis also had a successful career as an assistant coach for Division III Macalester College from 1998-2004. He helped guide the Scots to back-to-back national championships, including the 1998 National Championship.


In addition to his collegiate coaching career, Bellis has coached the Wings Soccer Club as full-time coaching and player development director from 1998-2007 and was head girls varsity soccer coach at Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield, Minn.


Bellis has a long list of coaching credentials, including a UEFA B coaching license, the NSCAA Advanced National, and the USSF B and National Youth coaching licenses. He is also a member of the NSCAA and the English FA coaching association.


He played semi-professional soccer for Chorley FC from 1992 to 1998 in Lancashire, U.K. Bellis helped the Magpies to one of their best seasons in franchise history in the 1995-1996 season, where they reached the semifinals of the Football Association Challenge Trophy.


Before earning his Master's degree in sport management in 2018 at Concordia, Bellis earned his bachelor's degree of arts (BA) in applied sports studies and social sciences from Lancaster University in Lancaster, U.K.


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