SOWEGANS SC announces club’s first head coach

Albany, GA (December 5th, 2022) – SOWEGANS Soccer Club has announced Ricky Zambrano as the club’s first head coach.

“Ricky brings a wealth of soccer experience to the club” said SOWEGANS’s president, Josh Duckworth. “As someone who’s been involved in grassroots soccer in SWGA for years, we see Ricky leading SOWEGANS as another opportunity to grow the sport in our region.”

After finishing his college career at St. Thomas University, he began his coaching career at his alma mater as an assistant coach, eventually becoming the head coach. From 1998-2002 he lead St. Thomas to two Conference Championships while claiming Conference Coach of the Year honors in 1998. He then moved to the SEC as an assistant women’s coach at LSU, where they made history becoming the first ever 8 seed to defeat a 1 seed Auburn, 1-0.

From there, he moved to Thomas University as Head Coach, leading them to 4 Conference Championships, 12 post season appearances, being named Conference Coach of the Year in 2014 and 2016, with 3 NAIA National Tournament appearances.

He is currently serving as the UFA Academy Director, working with top level youth players in Southwest GA. He’s been married to his wife Brandee for 14 years and they have two children, Amaya and Nicholas.

“This is an opportunity to continue to assist with the growth of our game within Southwest GA.” said Zambrano. “Whether it is the growth of local players on the roster or helping to build a passion about the game to families that come out and watch our team play. I am amazed about the way the game has grown in Southwest Georgia since I moved here in 2005.” 

Coach Zambrano will be at the first tryout on December 17th as he begins building his roster for the 2023 season.