St. Bonaventure hires Donny George as women’s soccer head coach

BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – Donny George has been appointed the 11^thhead coach in St. Bonaventure women’s soccer history, Director of Athletics Joe Manhertz announced. George arrives at St. Bonaventure after coaching stints at multiple high school, club and collegiate levels including most recently in Western New York at Niagara.

“We are excited to welcome Donny as our next women’s soccer head coach,” Manhertz said. “His energy and enthusiasm and winning track record fit what we were looking for in the next leader of the program. I am extremely proud of the process our team executed during the search as well as our student-athletes for their input. We look forward to watching Donny work with our student-athletes and raising the level of our program.”

George makes the short trip from Little Three rival Niagara where he served as an assistant on staff with the Purple Eagles the past two years. While in Lewiston, he helped guide Niagara to the top of the MAAC as the Purple Eagles recorded a 24-12-2 total record including a 13-6-1 mark in conference play over the last two seasons.

“It is with immense gratitude and humility that I accept the responsibility of leading the St. Bonaventure women’s soccer program into a shared vision of excellence,” George said. “It is an absolute honor to join a university that I’ve always thought so highly of. This opportunity would not be possible without experiences that have come before and shaped me into the coach I am today. I will forever be indebted to Niagara University and all my former teams, mentors and, most importantly, players that have paved the way toward this next pursuit.”

In George’s first season on staff during the 2021 campaign, Niagara posted a 13-4-1 record and reached the MAAC quarterfinals while logging an eight-game winning streak that was the longest for the program in over 15 years. This past year, the Purple Eagles finished 11-8-1, reached the MAAC Championship Game and came one step from the NCAA Tournament. Defensively, Niagara put together a 637-minute shutout streak during the year to set a new school record while recording nine total shutouts on the season.

George also recently served as the FC Buffalo UWS2 women’s head coach and was an assistant for the FC Buffalo men’s team of the National Premier Soccer League. He also coached successful youth teams at Empire United and held the role of Director of Recruiting.

A native of Ipswich, England, he played for multiple semi-pro teams in his home country before moving to the United States in 2009. He played two collegiate seasons at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College and finished his collegiate eligibility with two years at Baker University in Kansas where he was a standout defender.

He began his coaching career at Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, Fla., where he recorded a mark of 27-9-3 in two seasons while setting school records for wins, goals in a season and district finish. George then returned to Baker, this time in a coaching role, where he worked with the men’s soccer team in two extremely successful seasons including back-to-back trips to the NAIA national tournament.

In 2018, Baker won 16 games and finished the season ranked No. 9 in the NAIA national Top 25 and then won 13 games with a final ranking of No. 10 in the national polls the next season.

After moving to New York State, he served as an assistant coach at Daemen and was named head coach at Erie Community College before taking an opportunity to jump to the Division I level at Niagara.

“I am humbled and appreciative to be entrusted with leading Bonnies Women’s Soccer,” George said. “I want to thank Joe Manhertz, Steve Campbell, Sarah Wolcott and the rest of the search committee. I look forward to starting straight away and working with this exceptional group of young women. I have the utmost confidence that they have the dedication and heart required to compete in the Atlantic 10 at the highest level and it is my privilege to lead them toward our shared goals. Go Bonnies!”

George holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and a Master’s degree in sports management from Baker University. He currently owns a USSF-C license as well as a Premier Diploma from United Soccer Coaches.