Paul Babba is in his fourth season as the head coach of the Lady Statesmen Soccer program after taking over in the summer of 2011. Babba, who has brought a wealth of knowledge on the professional, collegiate and international levels to Delta State, enters this season with two complete offseasons working with the Lady Statesmen.
In his first season, Babba implemented a strong defensive and possesion position on the pitch, resulting in the second lowest goals against average (1.76) in the history of the Lady Statesmen program, just behind 2008’s 1.68. Babba's 2011 squad also gave up the fewest goals in Lady Statesmen soccer program history with 30.
In his second season, Babba again emphasized defense and possesion on the pitch. The Lady Statesmen only gave up 2.35 goals per game. The Lady Statesmen also attempted more shots (10.4) than the previous year (8.1).
In the 2013 campaign, Babba led his Lady Statesmen to a 3-12-1 record overall and 1-8-1 record in conference play. As a team, the Green-and-White attempted 10.8 shots per game and were 74-173 in shots on goal-attempts.
Babba came to Delta State from Mississippi College where he spent four seasons as the primary assistant coach to head coach Darryl Longabaugh. While at MC, Babba coached the Lady Choctaws forwards and midfielders. In his last season with MC, the team compiled a 12-5-2 overall record, including an 8-4-1 mark in American Southwest Conference play.
In his four seasons with Longabaugh, Babba helped guide the Lady Choctaws to a 53-20-5 record while the program produced 16 All-ASC performers.
Deeply passionate about teaching soccer to the youth of Mississippi, Babba has served as a club coach with the Mississippi Fire Juniors since June 2010 and he previously held the post of director of coaching at the Brandon Soccer League.
He has also served with the Mississippi Olympic Development Program staff as a staff coach.
Babba's collegiate playing career is as impressive as his young coaching acumen. As a four-year starter at Belhaven College, the Numan, Nigeria native closed his career as the Blazers' second all-time leading scorer with 37 goals. From 2003-2006, Babba made opposing defenders cringe while amassing 18 career assists and 92 career points.
During his senior season in 2006, Babba totaled 32 points, which ranks sixth on the Belhaven single season charts, while scoring 13 goals. As a junior Babba also topped the 13 goals mark.
After his collegiate career ended, Babba played two seasons for Mississippi Brilla FC, of the Professional Development League.
Babba graduated from Belhaven College in 2007 with a bachelor's degree in sports administration. He received his master's in intercollegiate athletic administration from Mississippi College in 2010. Babba holds a Class “B” license from the United States Soccer Federation as well as a National Youth License from the USSF.
The son of Nemuel and Kaja Babba, Paul is married to the former Laura Kochon of West Lafayette, Ind. The couple has two sons, Noah (3) and Micah (18 Months).
