Coaches

Paul Babba

Associate Head Coach

babbapp@ucmail.uc.edu

513 556 0567

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Paul Babba joined the Cincinnati women's soccer staff in March of 2024 and enters his first season at UC as an assocaite head coach. 

Babba spent the last two seasons as the head coach of Bellarmine's women's soccer program. He has more than 16 years of collegiate soccer coaching experience, including other head coaching roles at Delta State, Bryan College and Kentucky.

During his two-year stint at Bellarmine, he led one of the top defensive units in the ASUN. The Knights ranked second in the conference in goals-against average (0.88) while tying for third in shutouts (eight) in 2022.

Prior to joining Bellarmine, he spent two seasons as an assistant coach/recruiting coordinator at  Kentucky, where he also assumed the role of interim head coach for the final three games of the fall 2021 campaign.

Before heading to Lexington, Babba served as an assistant coach/recruiting coordinator at Elon and helped lead the Phoenix to a 12-6-2 season and the program's first-ever berth in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament.

In 2017 he was recognized as the Appalachian Athletic Conference Coach of the Year as he led Bryan College to its first-ever AAC regular-season championship and berth in the NAIA National Tournament while posting the winningest season in program history at 12-7 overall and 9-2 in conference play.

Under his guidance that season, the Lions also garnered AAC acknowledgments for Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year.  In his two seasons at Bryan College, the program accumulated nine All-AAC and 13 All-Academic Team honors.

Babba's first head-coaching job at the collegiate level came at Delta State University, a Division II program in Mississippi, and led the program for five years (2011-15).

He played collegiately from 2003-06 at Belhaven University, where he was a team captain his last two seasons and ranked third all-time at the school in points (92) and tied for third in goals (37). After college, he played two summers for Mississippi Brilla FC.

Babba earned a bachelor's degree in sports administration at Belhaven and a master's degree in athletic administration at Mississippi College. He possesses a USSF National 'A' Senior License, which is the highest qualification for coaches at the university level.

A native of Jos, Nigeria, Babba has a wife, Laura, and three children: Noah, Micah and Hannah.

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