Don Stopa was brought in as an assistant coach prior to the 2019 season. He recently completed his fifth season at UND and his 24th overall in coaching.
Prior to North Dakota, Stopa spent four seasons as the head coach at the University of Minnesota Crookston where he amassed 33 wins in that timeframe. In 2017, Stopa matched the school’s record for wins in a single season with 12 and a year later helped guide Gabriel Antolak to a Second Team All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference honoree, the first since 2014.
Before heading to UMC, Stopa led the Louisburg College Hurricanes to a 70-56 mark and helped to produce 14 All-Region players, two National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Americans, and six NJCAA All-Academic award winners. In addition to his duties as softball coach, Stopa was also the Sports Information Director for Louisburg.
A native of Surrey, British Columbia, Stopa spent five years at Pima Community College in Tucson, Ariz. working with both the baseball and softball teams, as well as serving as the Sports Information Director. In 2011, he helped the Aztecs to a 51-14 mark and No. 9 ranking in the NJCAA poll. He also helped the team compete for a regional championship, finishing just one game short of a trip to the National Tournament.
Prior to his move to Arizona, Stopa was the head softball coach at Graceland University, a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) school in Lamoni, Iowa for three seasons helping to improve the Yellowjackets both on the field and in the classroom. Before his transition to softball, Stopa was an assistant baseball coach for two seasons at Graceland.
Before making the move to Graceland, Stopa spent time as the pitching coach at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College.
Stopa earned his Associate of Arts (A.A.) degree in Mass Communication in 2002 from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Communication in 2004 at Graceland University, and a Master of Science (M.S.) in Sport Management in 2007 at California University of Pennsylvania. Don is married to Heather Fors is the father of two boys, Austin and Jaxon.
Hear from Coach Stevens on Stopa
"Coach Stopa has a record of making teams better and has proven that every where he has been,” said Stevens. “We are excited for his arrival at UND and look forward to him helping us achieve our goal of winning the Summit League."
