The University of Maine at Augusta announced that Justin Wentworth and Sarah Ntifu will coach the new men’s and women’s soccer teams, respectively, launching fall 2023.
Wentworth is a former Central Maine United Soccer Club player. Previously, he played four years of varsity soccer at Waterville Senior High School, winning first and second team honors as a junior and senior, and continued to play at Emmanuel College in Boston. Wentworth moved on to play hockey for Thomas College in Waterville, where he now works as an assistant hockey coach.
Ntifu is a migrant from Ghana with diverse coaching and playing experience at the College, Division III, high school and youth club levels. She was captain of her high school women’s soccer team in Ghana for three straight years, where she led her team to win the High School Zonal Championship in 2011 and 2012. She played for BrightSam Ladies FC, a semi-professional team in Takoradi, Ghana, from 2013-2015 that achieved its first FA Cup semi-final appearance in 2013, and Cochise Women’s Soccer team, a National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division 1 team in Arizona from 2018-2019 that won the Region 1 Championship in 2019.
Ntifu began coaching with the Newcastle Boys FC in Accra, Ghana, in 2015. In 2022, she coached with Challenger Sports. She currently holds the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) Grassroots license and is in the process of receiving the USSF D license. Ntifu is also currently pursuing an M.S. in Information Systems from the University of Maine, and has a B.S. in computer applications from the University of Maine at Fort Kent.
Chris Hart, director of student life and athletics at UMA, says that he is “thrilled” to welcome Wentworth and Ntifu to the new program.
“Their passion for the game of soccer and their plan to grow and develop these programs both on and off the field is what impressed us throughout the search process,” Hart says. “I am excited for our student-athletes to begin working with their coaches in the Fall.”
UMA announced in April 2022 that it will add men’s and women’s soccer to its USCAA Division II athletic program beginning in the Fall 2023. UMA is a member of the Yankee Small College Conference, which currently has seven schools that sponsor men’s soccer and six schools that sponsor women’s soccer. With the additions of Men’s and Women’s Soccer, UMA will offer students nine sports within which to compete through its athletics program.
UMA has started recruiting student athletes for the Fall 2023 season and currently has four athletes — two per team — who have signed National Letters of Intent. For more information, contact: Chris Hart, chart@maine.edu, 207-621-3442.