Bill Kelly, who is currently taking a temporary family leave of absence, enters his fourth season leading the women's soccer program during the 2025-26 academic year. Kelly became the 15th head coach in program history after taking over on April 11, 2022.
The Soaring Eagles closed the 2024 season by securing the program's first Empire 8 Conference Tournament appearance since 2005, following a 3-1 victory against Houghton. Elmira finished its conference slate with four wins. The Soaring Eagles would put together a valiant effort against No. 1 seed Brockport in the E8 Quarterfinals, as a goal by the Golden Eagles in the 71st minute would be the difference in a 1-0 contest. Elmira's Rachel Bortnick '25, Faith Ingber '26, Emily Andersen '26, Piper Andrews '26, Mo McBride '27, and Tierney Krawczyk '27 were named to the 2024 Academic All-District Women's Soccer Teams, selected by College Sports Communicators
During the 2023 season, the Soaring Eagles would finish 3-10-4 (0-5-3 E8). In Elmira's ten losses during the season, the Soaring Eagles were outscored by just 12 goals (1.2 goals per game), while 11 of Elmira's 17 contests were decided by one goal or less. For their efforts during the season, Nevaeh Winston '25 was named to the Empire 8 All-Conference third team, while six Soaring Eagles garnered Academic All-District honors from College Sports Communicators.
During the 2022 season, Kelly helped lead the Soaring Eagles to a 6-9-2 record, including its first Empire 8 Conference win since the 2015 season when defeating Keuka 1-0 at Campus Field on October 22. Elmira's six wins was three greater than the season prior, and the most for the Soaring Eagles since the 2014 season.
Kelly comes to Elmira with an overall coaching record in Division III women's soccer of 183-157-27 throughout 20 seasons. After a seven-year stint with Saint Benedict in Saint Joseph, Minnesota, Kelly most recently coached at Bard College for 13 seasons. After his resignation in December of 2020, Kelly has spent the last 16 months as a consultant for Athletics Recruitment Consulting, LLC in Delmar, New York, a suburb of Albany.
During his time at Bard, Kelly's teams twice finished second and third in the Skyline Conference and made four postseason appearances in the ECAC Tournament. He was named Skyline Conference Coach of the Year in 2019, and in 2015, Bard won the Liberty League Coaching Staff of the Year Award.
Before arriving at Bard, Kelly coached the nationally-ranked Division III women's soccer program at The College of St. Benedict in Minnesota. He led his teams to the NCAA playoffs three times, including a finish in the "Sweet Sixteen". In 2002, he was named the MIAC Coach of the Year and the Division III Central Region Coach of the Year.
Kelly offers more than an ability to put winning soccer teams on the field as he is also a published writer, who earned his M.A. in English and Creative Writing from the University of Minnesota, where he won an Academy of American Poets Prize. His poems have appeared in numerous literary magazines across the country, and he has authored children's stories for SPIDER magazine, HIGHLIGHTS FOR CHILDREN, and others. In 2015, he signed with WordTech Communication LLC to have his collection of poetry, Water Tiger, published.
Kelly is also an accomplished painter as his work has been shown and sold in Minneapolis, Albany, and Boston. A former college English instructor, he enjoys providing academic support for his athletes.
Kelly graduated from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he was a four-year letter winner for the Scots as a goalkeeper and midfielder. For many years he played club soccer with the Dundees of F.C. Scotia in St. Paul, Minnesota.
He and his wife, Vera, who is a Political Science professor at Siena College, currently reside in Delmar, New York.
