Head Coach

The 2011 season will mark MeKonnen Afa’s seventh season as the head coach of the USF men’s soccer program. Afa has built one of the most consistent NAIA men’s soccer programs in the region, having coached five of his last six teams to a winning record while accumulating a 60-43-10 overall record. Afa has coached players to 34 all-conference awards, including seven first team players.

In Afa’s sixth season he led the Cougars to an overall record of 10-8-1 and 9-3-1 record in conference play. The Cougar’s finished the year strong, winning nine of their last 10 regular season matches, including eight straight. The surge allowed USF to finish second in the conference standings and earn the No. 2 seed in the GPAC tournament. The conference record and standing is the best ever under Afa.

For the 2009 season, the Cougars outscored their opponents 34-20, including five shutouts, and were 6-2-0 in their first year at the USF Soccer Complex.

Freshman midfielder Ryan Keohane and junior defender Cole Deboer earned first team honors. Six other Cougars found their way onto either the second team or honorable mention GPAC.

In 2008, the men came within one match of qualifying for the NAIA national championships for the first time in school history when they fell to Dana College 1-0 in the GPAC semifinals. Bebe Jones was named an honorable mention All-American.
In 2007, the Cougar men finished with a 12-7 record, and reached the NAIA regional final four for the first time under coach Afa. In addition, junior midfielder Bebe Jones was named to the GPAC all-conference first team and freshman defender Cole DeBoer was named to the all-conference second team.
Afa has been involved with soccer for many years. Afa has served as an assistant coach for the Augustana University women’s soccer team. In August of 2001, he took over as the head girls’ soccer coach of Roosevelt High School (Sioux Falls, S.D.). Under Afa’s guidance, Roosevelt posted a 40-2-8 record. In 2002, Afa led Roosevelt to a state title and was named High School Coach of the Year.

Afa played with nationally ranked National American University for four years. Afa earned a B.S. in Business Administration from NAU in May 2000. He is also currently pursuing a Masters of Business Administration at USF.

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Hometown: Sioux Falls, S.D.
Alma Mater: National American University