The Penn State Greater Allegheny Athletic Department is pleased to announce the new head coach of the Penn State Greater Allegheny women's soccer team for the 2017-18 academic year.

Coach Odim has most recenlty coached the Ellis High School Girl’s Varsity Soccer team for the past 4 seasons.  Odim’s passion for soccer was developed while growing up as a child in Nigeria, and his coaching career began as a 19-year old during a 1977 summer internship with IBM.

As a Player:

Coach Odim's soccer carrer began at Pomfret School in Connecticut, where he was a 2-year midfield/defender starter.  As a freshman at Carleton College (1976), he was a mid-field starter. The remainder of his playing career was as an adult amateur for the Rochester Macs Soccer Club, who were MN Soccer Association Division II State Champions in 1985.  He also played with the Rochester AMPS Soccer Club, who were 3-time Southern MN League Champions in 1986, 1989 and 1990.  Coach Odim has playing experience in each position on the field, including as goalkeeper for a season with the AMPS.

As a Coach:

It is in Rochester that Odim left his mark on the Southern MN soccer community.  He is a past President of the Rochester Youth Soccer Association (RYSA) and was a club head coach.  His Rochester Steamers Boys’ Select Traveling Team won an AAU Junior Olympic Bronze Medal as U-12s and were 3-time State Champions (U-14, U-16, U-17).  In 1995, Odim was the Director of Training for RYSA Traveling Teams and in 1996 he received an RYSA Appreciation Award for, “Untiring dedication to the growth of soccer in Southern Minnesota".

Other coaching experience includes:
-Mayo H.S. Boys’ Assistant (1985 – 1989)
-Mayo H.S. Boys’ Head (1990 – 1993)
-John Marshall H.S. Girls’ Assistant (1994)
-Lourdes H.S. Girls’ Head (1996)

In 1998, Odim took a 13-yr hiatus from soccer to refocus on family and career.  A career change allowed him to return to soccer in 2011 as Assistant Women’s Coach at Bucks County Community College in the Philadelphia area.  That same year, he also coached a U-12 Boys Premier Traveling team in Williamstown, NJ.  He relocated to Pittsburgh in 2012 and was the Head Coach at the Ellis School for the past 4 seasons.

In the Spring of 2017, Odim coached a PA West U15 Boys team from the Pittsburgh area Dynamo Football Club and he currently coaches 2-6 year olds with Soccer Shots, Pittsburgh.  Additionally, he is a licensed WPIAL high school referee.

His coaching licenses include:
-National Soccer Coaches of America (NSCAA)
--Advanced National Diploma
--Goalkeeper Level 2 Diploma
United States Soccer Federation (USSF)
-National “C” License