Methembe Ndlovu Named Associate Head Coach for CMS Women's Soccer

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Methembe Ndlovu, who has extensive coaching experience in the United States and in his native Zimbabwe, will join the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's soccer program as the associate head coach in 2021, Head Coach Jennifer Clark announced today. 

Ndlovu most recently spent the 2020-21 season as an assistant men's soccer coach at Penn State University, where he helped the Nittany Lions to a 9-2-2 record and an appearance in the NCAA Sweet 16. Penn State also reached the championship game of the Big 10 Tournament, before falling to Indiana on penalty kicks after a 1-1 tie.

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 the Big Green, 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. The Athenas have been actively involved with fundraising efforts for Grassroot Soccer since 2017, when Jennifer Clark returned to Claremont for her second stint as the program's head coach.

In addition, Ndlovu served as a volunteer assistant coach for Bobby Clark at Notre Dame in 2004, when the Fighting Irish finished with a 13-3-3 record and were the No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

"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 program 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 Football Club in 2008 and had a 10-year stint as the CEO and technical director. He also served as the head coach of the Highlanders Football Club in Zimbabwe from 2006-08, rejoining a club which he played for in the 1990s, leading them to a CAF Africa Champions League qualification in his rookie season.

A four-year member of the men's soccer team at Dartmouth College, Ndlovu was a first-team All-Ivy League selection in 1993 as a freshman, Bobby Clark's final season at the helm, and earned second-team accolades in 1995 and 1996, while adding team MVP honors in 1996. He played professionally for almost 10 years, including stints in the United States with the Albuquerque Geckos and the Boston Bulldogs, and made 12 appearances with the Zimbabwe National Team between 1997 and 1999, including in the 1998 COSAFA Cup, when he served as an assistant captain.

Ndlovu then began his coaching career in 2002 as an assistant coach while playing with the Cape Cod Crusaders of the Premier Development League. He took over as Cape Cod's head coach the following year, and led the Crusaders to a national title, before joining the Indiana Invaders in 2004 as the general manager and head coach. He concluded his playing career with the Invaders with 27 games played over the 2004 and 2005 seasons, and was named the PDL National Coach of the Year, while also volunteering with the staff at Notre Dame.

After the 2005 season, he retired as a player and returned to Zimbabwe to coach in 2006, where he remained until joining the Penn State staff in 2020.

In 2010, Ndlovu was honored by his alma mater with the Dartmouth College Martin Luther King Social Justice Award for his work with Grassroot Soccer in 2018. He was the first person from his area of Zimbabwe to attend Dartmouth, where he graduated in 1997.