Hastings College hires new women's soccer coach

England-native Jade Ovendale will be joining Hastings College as the new Head Women's Soccer Coach Athletic Director BJ Pumroy announced on Tuesday. Ovendale comes to Bronco Nation after spending the past two seasons as the head women's coach at Northern Oklahoma College following three seasons as assistant men's coach.

"I am honored and excited for the opportunity to lead the women's soccer program at Hastings College," Ovendale continued. "I'm overjoyed and thankful for BJ Pumroy and the rest of the search committee in providing this fantastic opportunity. It was clear throughout the process that those at Hastings are passionate and dedicated to the success of their student-athletes both academically and athletically."

With NOC being a junior college institution, Ovendale saw 33 of her former players receive athletic scholarships to finish out their careers at four year institutions. Two of them went on to play NCAA DI, 12 went NCAA DII and 19 went on to play in the NAIA.

"My philosophy is built around an offensive style of soccer which I believe matches well with Hastings' history of being a dominant presence in the GPAC," Ovendale said. "The program has a strong tradition of excellence and I want to continue building on that. I am ready to meet the team and get the season started."

Ovendale provides a wealth of experience having professional certificates like the USSF E License, FA Level 1 Talent Identification, and USC Goalkeeper Level 1 Diploma.

"We had a deep pool of candidates for the position and Jade rose to the top," said Pumroy. "Coach Ovendale's commitment to success on the field and in the classroom brought her forth as the right fit to lead our storied women's soccer program. With her honors as NAIA player and scholar and transition to coaching I foresee Coach Ovendale maintaining the accolades of our program and keeping us in the hunt for GPAC and National Titles and academic awards."

Ovendale graduated from University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma receiving her Bachelors of Science in Physical Education and Recreation in 2015 with cum laude honors. She later received her Masters of Education in Sports Administration from East Central University in 2018. She played her final two years of soccer for USAO where she scored 50 goals, dished out 17 assists for 143 points in her Drover career. She was named to the NAIA Honorable Mention All-American team in 2014 following her 32 goal season. She was also named Sooner Athletic Conference Player and Offensive Player of the Year and Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athlete.Following her senior year she was awarded The Bill and Pat Smith Scholar-Athlete Award. The award, which is given to up to two USAO senior athletes — one male and one female — each year, is presented to those students who best embody the concept of a student-athlete and uphold high ideals in scholarship, citizenship and athletic competition.