Liis Emajoe, who played for the Estonia national women’s soccer team and was a co-captain at t he University of Maine this past fall, has been named the girls soccer coach at Hampden Academy.
She will replace Ruth Lyons, who left after one year because of family issues, according to Hampden Academy athletic director Mike Bisson.
Emajoe will be the Broncos’ fourth coach in four years.
“I’m excited about it. I’ve always wanted to be a coach,” said the 23-year-old Emajoe, who will receive a bachelor’s degree in physical education and kinesiology from Maine on Saturday.
Bisson said she was one of five applicants, and he is looking forward to having her on board.
She was approved by the school’s board of directors on Wednesday night.
“We liked her playing experience. She played at a very high level. And she has a good teaching background,” said Bisson. “She came highly recommended by her coaches and professors.
“I think the girls will really respond to her,” he added.
Maine soccer coach Scott Atherley said Emajoe is a “perfect fit” at Hampden and predicted that she will do a phenomenal job.
“She has a great understanding and knowledge of the game, and she is a very good teacher of the game. She will be able to translate what she knows and explain it to her student-athletes,” said Atherley. “She is a gifted communicator who can communicate with people of all ages.”
He said Emajoe is “very, very bright” and that she will be the type of coach will make all of her players feel included.
“Her players will go through a wall for her,” said Atherley.
Emajoe was an outside midfielder and striker at Maine and appeared in 36 games during her three seasons. She scored two goals.
Before coming to Maine, she played in 27 games for the Estonia national team. The native of Tallinn, Estonia, started and played all 90 minutes in eight consecutive World Cup qualifying matches between 2009-10.
She was the Estonia Female Under-21 Footballer of the Year in 2010.
Emajoe said she was attracted to the Hampden job because the administration and community genuinely cared about its athletic programs.
She said she will play a ball possession style of game.
“We’ll want to keep the ball and play with it,” said Emajoe, who added that her players will pressure the ball when the other team has possession.
Lyons led the Broncos to a 9-3-2 regular season record last fall and a third seed Eastern Maine Class A. They were upset in the quarterfinals by eventual Eastern Maine titlist Edward Little of Auburn.
Lyons had replaced Warren Shearer, an emergency room doctor who had taken over for Gina DeSantis after DeSantis left abruptly in September of 2013 to take a job in New York.
DeSantis compiled a 23-12-2 record in her two-plus seasons, and the Broncos went 10-4-2 in 2013 with DeSantis and Shearer.