JONNY BLACK NAMED HILBERT MEN'S SOCCER HEAD COACH

Hilbert College athletic director Tim Seil introduced Jonny Black as the new head coach for the Hilbert men's soccer program July 29, 2022.

Black, a former professional footballer with the Tottenham Hotspurs FC (2001-2004) and Coleraine Football Club (2004-2006), began his coaching career with Spurs. He then moved back home to coach in the Academy at Larne Football Club (Northern Ireland), formerly Larne Youth, in 2006 but made the decision to jump the pond in 2014 and landed in New York State.

He served as the Technical Director of both the Rochester Futbol Club (RFC) and Global Premier Soccer New York (GPS NY).

As Technical Director, the UEFA A licensed football coach oversaw a program that won the US Club National Championship with the Rochester Futbol Club U16's in 2017 and won 11 New York West State Championships in five seasons.  Concurrently, Black helped grow GPS New York from 36 to 127 teams in five major cities, stretching from Binghamton through the NYS I-90 corridor from Albany to Buffalo while creating a clear development pathway to either the professional game or the collegiate level. The 2020 GPS New York Boys Regional Program was ranked 42nd overall in the nation by SoccerWire.

Since 2020, the Northern Ireland native has coached in and served as the Boys ECNL Director for the WNY Flash Academy. In the 2020/21 season, Black coached two out of the six Boys ECNL teams to the ECNL National Playoffs. In the 2021/22 season he doubled the club's representation on the national stage with four out of the six boys ECNL teams qualifying for the ECNL National Playoffs in San Diego. This has helped solidify the WNY Flash Academy Boys ECNL program as a powerhouse in the region.

A year after moving to Rochester, Black served as an assistant coach at Monroe Community College for one season and helped guide the Tribunes to a NJCAA Region III, Division I Championship in 2015.

As a player, Black joined Tottenham Hotspur Football Club at the age of 14 and spent time competing for Northern Ireland's youth national teams. In addition to earning 27 youth international caps, he captured the Northern Ireland U14 Player of Year award as well as the nation's first Victory Shield Championship (U16 British Championship).  On his 17th birthday, Black signed a professional contract with Spurs and would go onto spend two more years playing for the club before an injury abruptly ended his career.

Black has a bachelor's degree in Coaching for Development in Football from Anglia Ruskin University.