CHARLESTON, Ill. – Jenny Anderson-Hammond, a four-year starter at Clemson and former member of the coaching staff at the University of Kansas, has been named the new assistant coach for Eastern Illinois women’s soccer, head coach Tim Nowak has announced.
Originally a native of Southern California, Anderson-Hammond also played for semi-pro teams based in Ashville, N.C., Boston, Los Angeles and Charlotte. She graduated from Clemson in 2005 and joined the coaching staff at Kansas as a graduate assistant that fall.
“I am thrilled to add Jenny to the EIU soccer staff,” Nowak said. “She brings with her a wealth of playing experience along with great passion for the game. Her energy and enthusiasm for coaching soccer are exciting. I know she will have an immediate impact on this program both on and off the field.”
While completing a master’s degree in sports management at KU, Anderson-Hammond was the director of soccer operations during the 2005-06 seasons. She spent this past year as a volunteer assistant while continuing to serve as a coach with the Kansas Soccer Academy (a local club team). Kansas head coach Mark Francis played his first collegiate season at EIU before transferring to Southern Methodist when Shellas Hyndman left Charleston to take over the Dallas-based program.
At Clemson, she was a two-year captain as an upperclassman. She earned Freshman All-American honors from Soccerbuzz.com in 2001 and was twice named to the Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Honor Roll and Clemson Dean’s List. As a defender, she played primarily center back.
Clemson posted a 50-27-5 (.640) record during Anderson-Hammond’s four years with the program. The Tigers reached the NCAA Tournament every season, highlighted by a Sweet 16 run in 2001. She scored three goals as a senior in 2004.
Her tenure on the semi-pro summer league circuit began in 2003 with Asheville Splash. A year later she played for the Boston Renegades and spent the 2007 season with the Charlotte Eagles. All three teams were members of the W-League. In 2006, Anderson-Hammond traveled to South Korea with the Los Angeles-based Ajax America of the Women’s Premier Soccer League.
Anderson-Hammond married Andrew Hammond in the summer of 2006. The couple met while they were both students at Clemson. Andrew is a high school math teacher and plans on joining Jenny in Charleston after completing the current school year in Lawrence.
Anderson-Hammond replaces former assistant Beth Liesen, who left the program to pursue a teaching opportunity in Chicagoland.