Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. By Sports Reporter – FORMER Highlanders player and coach Methembe Ndlovu has scored another coaching role in the United States after being appointed the associate head coach of the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women’s soccer team in California, US.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps is the women’s soccer team of Claremont McKenna College, a private liberal arts college in California and competes in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Ndlovu, who has extensive coaching experience in the United States, is the last coach to lead Highlanders to the Premier Soccer League title after guiding the Bulawayo giants to the coveted title in 2006.
After relocating to the US last year, the 47-year-old Highlanders legend most recently spent the 2020-21 season as an assistant men’s soccer coach at Penn State University.
His new role at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps will see him working with head coach Jennifer Clark, who is the daughter of former Bosso coach Bobby Clark.
Ndlovu has had connections to the Clark family for quite some time, after being recruited by Bobby Clark, Jennifer’s father, to travel from Zimbabwe to play at Dartmouth in 1993, where Jennifer graduated in 1994.
While playing for Dartmouth College between 1993 and 1997, Ndlovu was teammates with Bobby’s son, Tommy Clark, and the two teammates teamed up again in 2002 to co-found Grassroot Soccer, an international adolescent health organization that educates, inspires, and mobilizes young people to overcome their greatest health challenges and live healthier, more productive lives.
Several current Zimbabwe international players such as Marvelous Nakamba, Teenage Hadebe, and Kuda Mahachi are products of the programme.
In addition, Ndlovu served as a volunteer assistant coach for Bobby Clark at Notre Dame University in 2004.
“We are thrilled to have Methembe join our coaching staff,” said Jennifer Clark. “He brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience that will help our programme continue to grow. With his years of playing and coaching at top levels around the world, you know he would be an asset to any program, and we are thrilled that he chose to join our team.”
Prior to returning to the United States and joining the coaching staff at Penn State in 2020, Ndlovu founded the Bantu Rovers in 2008 and had a 10-year stint as the club’s CEO and technical director.
