BAMBA APPOINTED ASSISTANT COACH OF MASAKADA

PRESS RELEASE – Solving problems, seeing angles, recognizing patterns, and calculating speed and velocity, among other skill sets on and off the pitch, come naturally for Rhoda Bamba, a former Guam Women’s National team player and a current AP Calculus teacher at Guam High School.

Bamba is now again solving for X with the Masakåda, but this time as Assistant Coach of Guam’s representative women’s football team. The Guam Football Association Technical Department recently announced her appointment and Bamba began working with Head Coach Sang Hoon Kim twice a week this month with the team.

“I’m very happy to have Rhoda join the Masakåda coaching staff,” said Kim, who also is GFA’s Technical Director. “With her experience playing at the highest level for Guam, she knows what is required of players to succeed and the feeling of representing the island in international competition. More importantly, she believes in the program and truly wants to raise the overall level of the women’s game. She understands Guam’s playing philosophy and style, and as a teacher by profession, I believe she will work well with the players.

“In fact, the first time I came to Guam in 2006 to coach the women’s national team, she was one of my players in a tournament. I look forward to again working with her, but now in a coaching role,” Kim added.

On the calendar for the Masakåda in 2021 are at least two international tournaments: the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers and the EAFF E-1 Football Championship Women’s Competition Preliminary Round 1. Currently, Guam is unranked in the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking due to inactivity over 18 months.

“My objective as the Assistant Coach is to assist and support Coach Kim so that the Masakåda can compete in upcoming AFC and EAFF tournaments and improve Guam’s world ranking,” Bamba said. “Also, I want to use my role as a coach to help develop the technical ability and performance for all women eligible to represent Guam. Last, I want to help create a healthy environment and culture for women, regardless of age, who are eager to simply de-stress after a long day of work or school, improve their knowledge of the game, and who have the desire and passion to play for Guam at the highest level.

“I trust Coach Kim’s professional vision. Coach Kim is truly the epitome of coaching and I feel lucky to assist the Masakåda under his direction. He was one of my coaches before and I saw how he was able to maximize individual and team performance in such a short time. I know that I will gain even more knowledge working directly under him, so that I can continue to give back to all teams that I coach in Guam,” Bamba added.

Bamba was first called up to represent Guam in international competition in 2001 for the AFC Asian Women’s Championship in Chinese Taipei. Two years later, she was called up for the silver-medal winning squad at the 2003 South Pacific Games in Fiji. Guam earned its highest world ranking the same year at No. 66 in the world. Bamba later played in five more tournaments for Guam, with her final match at the 2010 Marianas Cup against the Northern Mariana Islands.

Bamba’s first foray into coaching was in 1997 as the Assistant Coach of the Southern High School Girls Soccer team while she was teaching mathematics at the school. At the club level, she began in 2003 with the Southern Cobras as a U6 Head Coach. Currently, Bamba also is the Guam High School Girls Soccer Head Coach, as well as a coach with the ASC Trust Islanders in the Triple J Auto Group Robbie Webber Youth Soccer League.

Bamba earned her AFC “C” Coaching Certificate in 2012 and her AFC “B” Coaching Certificate following a course held in Guam in 2018.

“Without hesitation, I accepted the appointment as Assistant Coach of the Masakåda after Coach Kim called me,” Bamba said. “I’ve always wanted to give back to GFA and the Women’s Program in any way I can; I have benefitted greatly from GFA as a former national player, a club and recreational player, a referee, and also as a board member. The timing was also perfect as my youngest child had just graduated from high school. 

“This is absolutely an honor to be selected and I look forward to doing what I can to contribute to the success of all on the Guam Women’s National team, on and off the field,” Bamba added.

Aside from her experience as a National Team player and a coach at various levels, Bamba also is a Guam National Referee, as well as a former GFA Executive Committee Member and Chairperson of the GFA Women’s Committee. 

In domestic competition, she has played for championship club teams, including the AK/Chevy Trailblazers, dck Masters, and the NAPA Lady Rovers. She last played in the Premier Division of the Bud Light Women’s Soccer League in the 2018-2019 season for Heavy Hitters/Nutrition Mission Heat, and was also part of the club’s team that won the Bud Light Women’s Futsal League title in 2019. She most recently played for Team Mosa’s in the Bud Light Women’s Soccer League Amateur Division.

Bamba also is a 2020 inductee of the University of Guam Triton Athletics Hall of Fame.