In his first year as head coach, Joe Donnelly has swiftly taken charge and led Boys Varsity Soccer to a strong 5-3-2 start. Donnelly comes to Andover with a wealth of knowledge from a career as a soccer player himself and a coach at various schools. As the coach, Donnelly emphasizes family and hopes to build a team that cares for each other through thick and thin.
Despite being new to Andover, Donnelly described his optimism for coaching the team. He hopes to start fast with his program, especially with his limited time with them.
“The hardest thing is always to just get up to speed as fast as possible with the culture and the time of the school. It’s a very fast paced place, it moves fast, so I’m trying to hit the ground running. That’s always the biggest hurdle especially when taking over such a successful program,” said Donnelly.
In addition to coaching, Donnelly has spent countless hours on the field, having played since he was five years old. He described how he found his love for soccer from his local team, The New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League (NASL).
“I grew up in New Jersey about 20 minutes from Giants Stadium, and back then, Pelé was playing for the New York Cosmos. I started following the game there, and I’ve been playing soccer ever since,” said Donnelly.
Donnelly focuses heavily on his player’s development. His main goal in coaching is to ensure that his players have the chance to flourish, using drills that will imitate situations within the game. In order to have successful competitions, he believes that each player needs to practice with the same effort they exert in the game and understand the reasoning behind different tactics.
“I say being able to find a player and put him in a position where they can be successful, they can find success on the field, and to give them the ability to develop and grow at the pace that they’re capable of growing at. I try to do that with all my drills. I tell my players to try and find the game in the drill and to try to find the drill in the game so that they’re always thinking of why is it applicable for me to do this thing and then how can I use that when it comes to game time?” said Donnelly.
Donnelly continued, “I’m a really big Carlo Ancelotti fan who’s currently at Real Madrid, but he was the coach of [Association Football] Milan and a player from [Association Football] Milan. I like to make sure that the teams are defensively sound and compacted, taking away much space for other teams to move in the game. I really like for my players to understand the tactics of the game and the rationales behind it,”
Donnelly also focuses attention on developing players beyond those solely on the varsity roster. He also believes that it is important to work with players from all levels of play, working with each team’s coaches to help grow players.
“The coaches that we have on JV1, JV2, and JV3 are all outstanding, so that helps in terms of development, I have gone down and watched some [Junior Varsity Teams] games when I can, because I want to make sure that I still get eyes on those kids,” said Donnelly.
Matteo Damian ’28 commented on the motivation Donnelly brought to the team and how Donnelly’s practices help prepare members of the team for success.
“Coach Donnelly gives the team energy to play and practice. I would definitely say he’s really smart and good at what he does. It’s the way he gets down to the specifics and how he helps you improve,” Damian said.
Starting striker Kai Myles ’27 echoed this, sharing how Donnelly inspires the team and pushes them to be their best. Donnelly’s encouragement of each player and their unique abilities has helped strengthen the team.
“[Donnelly] said you have to have confidence in yourself to do everything you can. Even if other people don’t believe in you, you have to have confidence. He’s helped me believe that I am the best version of myself and that I have to put all my effort into becoming the best version of myself. He has helped me gain the confidence that when I’m out there, I’m the best on that field,” said Myles.
Donnelly described the central word for Boys Varsity Soccer’s culture and his hopes for what the team is about to build out on the field after a season together.
“Family. Because families don’t always get along, but they always have to care for each other. And we find a way to help each other through all the hard stuff,” said Donnelly.
