D’Youville College and the D’Youville Department of Athletics is proud to announce the promotion of Ona Halladay to Director of Intercollegiate Athletics.
Halladay spent the previous year as Associate Director of Athletics for the department and was Assistant Director of Athletics for the previous five. In addition to her role as Director of Intercollegiate Athletics, Halladay will continue her roles as Senior Woman Administrator, Compliance Director, and head coach of the softball team.
A key member of the department for years, Halladay has attended numerous Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) meetings and the NCAA Convention in addition to working closely with student-athletes, administration, and faculty. She is currently a member of the institution’s Leadership Council and is a co-leader of their Strategic Planning Committee. Through her leadership she has helped lay the groundwork for future projects at D’Youville.
During her tenure at D’Youville, Ona has taken on a multitude of responsibilities within the athletics department. As Senior Woman Administrator (SWA), she has been the highest-ranking female in the athletic department since her hire in August of 2013. She has been and continues to be pivotal in making decisions within the department and maintaining equality. As Compliance Director, Ona helps enforce both school, conference, and NCAA policies and procedures.
In addition, Halladay has been crucial in managing the department’s budget and finances, departmental planning and strategic initiatives. She has also spent her years growing into a management role when it comes to the coaching staff. Her role has also grown to working with faculty, staff, and administrators outside of athletics and leading the department with community service efforts.
With all her experience, Halladay is looking forward to putting her stamp on the department and helping the department progress to new heights.
Not only has Halladay been an extremely successful administrator, but her tenure as softball coach has been outstanding as well. Ona has made five postseason appearances in her previous six seasons in charge of the D’Youville softball program, coaching two AMCC regular season champions, hosting two AMCC playoffs, has been to two AMCC championship games, and has been AMCC Coach of the Year twice.
Prior to her time at D’Youville, Ona served as an assistant coach for the St. Bonaventure softball team. Under her guidance they had several players named to the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team and the Atlantic 10 All-Conference Team. The team ranked 17th in the country in home runs during the 2011 season.
The experience that Halladay has extends from her inner workings of the department, but she understands the demands as a student-athlete as she was once one herself.
As a player, Halladay excelled as she began her career at St. John’s University where she was a two-year letter winner. She then moved onto Brockport where she was a two-time All-SUNYAC selection for the Golden Eagles and earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology in 2010.
In 2017, Halladay completed her Masters of Sports Administration from Canisius College while working full-time.
All the experience Halladay has accrued throughout her professional and playing careers have helped pave the way for her promotion, a promotion she does not take lightly.