Tony Tommasi, Head Coach

tommasia@bvu.edu

Tony Tommasi is in his third season as BVU head women's soccer coach in the fall of 2012.  In the team's second game of the year, he became the program's all-time winningest coach with 17 wins.  The program had only 29 wins in 13 previous seasons before his arrival.

In his inaugural season of 2010, Tommasi guided the Beavers to a school record-tying seven wins, marking the highest win total by a first-year head coach in program history.  The team also turned in its highest single-season goal total since setting the school record back in 2005.  The team also had three players earn Academic All-District Honors and four selected to the IIAC Academic All-Conference Team.

The team would continue to move forward in 2011, setting a handful of school records, including wins in a season (8) and goals in a season (46).  Tommasi has led the squad to 15 wins in just his first two seasons at the helm after the program had won only 17 over the previous five years combined.  Last season, the team landed its first all-conference player since 2006 and produced an Academic All-American for only the third time.
 
Tommasi made his way to campus with nine years of collegiate coaching experience already under his belt, including a four-year stint as head women’s soccer coach at Methodist University in Fayetteville, N.C.

During his tenure at Methodist University, he picked up his 100^th career coaching win, while guiding the program to a combined 54-27-5 record and a conference mark of 27-4-2.  In just his first season with the Monarchs in 2006, he led them to the regular season USA South Atlantic Conference championship, as well as its first trip into the NCAA Tournament since 1995.  The following year, the Monarchs captured both the regular season and conference tournament championships.

Prior to his time at Methodist University, he also served five years as head women’s soccer coach at Texas Lutheran.  The program had an all-time record of 22-100 prior to his arrival in 2001, and during his tenure, the team went 49-34-5.  In just his second season, he was named American Southwest Conference Coach of the Year and led the team to its first winning season (10-7-1) in school history.  He left the program as its all-time winningest coach, while the team established 55 new team and individual records.

In addition to his two head coaching stints, he’s also spent time assisting the women’s program at Trinity, in San Antonio, Texas and serving two years as the head assistant coach at NCAA Division I Mississippi State.  Throughout most of the 1990’s, he served as Director of Training for soccer clubs in Richmond, Va.

Tommasi earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics in 1985 from the University of Richmond.  He and his wife, Chappell, have three children – daughters Kyra and Talia and son, Michael Anthony.

Alison Myrtue, Assistant Coach

myrtuea@bvu.edu

Alison joins the women's soccer program in 2012 as an assistant coach.

A 2009, graduate from Iowa State University, she played with the ISU Club soccer team as a midfielder and earned a BA in Journalism and Mass Communication with an emphasis in media.

Alison is  a native of Bondurant, Iowa and graduated from Bondurant-Farrar High School.  While playing for the Lady Jays, she was a five-time letterwinner and a three-time First Team All-Conference selection.  She led the team in goals scored in a single season and for a career and was a three-time team captain.

Aside from her coaching duties, she is also employed by BVU as the Office Manager in the Career Services office.  She and her husband, Jacob, reside in Schaller, Iowa.

Thom Bonagura, Volunteer Coach

Thom begins his first season as a volunteer coach with the women's soccer program in 2012, and is also joining the university this fall as an assistant professor of biology.

He has a coaching background in soccer, having served as an assistant high school varsity coach this past season at Delone Catholic High School in Hanover, Penn.  In addition, he was the head coach for the Hanover Soccer Club team 2 from 2010-12 through U12 and was the team 1 head coach for the U16 team from 2007-10.

A native of Otisville, N.Y., Thom received his undergraduate degree in Biology from University of Maryland College Park in 1993.  He then went on to obtain a PhD in Reproductive Biology from John Hopkins University.

Blair Helseth, Student Assistant Coach

Blair joins the women's soccer coaching staff in 2012 and will serve as a student assistant after playing for the Beavers the last two years.

During her career, she appeared in 31 games, playing primarily as a defender.  She was a key part of leading a defensive unit which allowed 32 fewer goals in 2011 than it did a season before and also helped the team post a school record seven shutouts.

She scored two goals and dished out three assists as a senior last year, as the Beavers scored a school record 46 goals.

Prior to coming to BVU, she played two seasons at Iowa Central Community College.

Blair is a native of Overland Park, Kan., and is an Elementary Education major.