COLUMBUS, Miss. -  The Mississippi University for Women's Athletics Department has announced Ana Ramos as its new head women's soccer coach. Ramos takes over the Owls' program after most recently serving as the assistant coach at NCAA Division II Eastern New Mexico University.
 
"I am very excited to have a coach with Ana's breadth of experience and background join our program," MUW Interim Director of Athletics Buddy Foster said. "She has had a progressively responsible, upward trajectory in her career as an assistant coach. We are proud and very blessed to be able to offer someone of her caliber - and commitment to women's soccer - the opportunity to head a program for the first time.
 
"Her knowledge about the nuts-and-bolts of all that goes into overseeing an intercollegiate team, as well as her recruiting experience and academic success, will be of great benefit to our growing women's soccer program at The W. Likewise, her proven ability to navigate external entities like camps, clinics, community involvement, and game operations, will – I believe - make her a valuable addition to Owls Athletics."
 
As an invitee to the NCAA's prestigious Career in Sports Forum in the summer of 2014, becoming The W's head coach is a culmination, of sorts, of Ramos' long-established career avocation to coach women's soccer. The Career in Sports Forum was created to provide student-athletes with a broader scope of the career tracks available within the sports business, with a primary focus on intercollegiate athletics. More than 450,000 student-athletes participate in 23 sports during each academic year, however, only 200 are invited to the forum, annually.
 
"I am humbled and honored at the opportunity to lead the MUW Women's Soccer program," Ramos said. "I would like to extend my deepest thanks and gratitude to (Interim Director of Athletics) Buddy Foster and (Head Men's Soccer Coach) BJ Pheasant, as well as the entirety of the search committee, for entrusting me with the future of this young program. From the moment I stepped on campus, it felt like one big, open, and welcoming family! I can't wait to get started.
 
In all, Ramos has a total of nine seasons as an assistant coach under her belt on the collegiate level, the bulk of which has been at NCAA Division III schools. Before serving on staff for NCAA II ENMU in 2023, Ramos was an assistant at both McMurry (Texas) University from 2019-2022 and at the University of the Ozarks (Ark.) from 2015-2018 (both NCAA D3 institutions).
 
She also served as an adjunct professor while at McMurry.
 
In addition to obtaining a United States Soccer Federation "F" License in 2015, Ramos has an extensive list of involvement in her sport. She has worked camps for NCAA Division I programs (Oklahoma State, and Texas A&M), served as a regional selection coach for the Olympic Development Program, as well as having been a club coach in Arkansas.
 
As for her own college career, Ramos competed for four seasons at NCAA III LeTourneau (Texas) University (2011-14), where she earned her bachelor's degree in business management in May 2015. She was a three-time American Southwest Conference Distinguished Scholar-Athlete Award winner during her time at LETU.
 
"This is an exciting time for The W athletic department," Ramos added. "In being fully established in the DIII environment now, in a highly competitive conference, the opportunity for continual growth is high. This team is still in its infancy and every day is a chance for us to lay that firm foundation to create and establish our identity as a competitive force in the (St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) year in and year out." 
 
 
MUW women's soccer is coming off of a 5-10 season in 2023. The Owls qualified for the SLIAC post-season tournament, losing to No. 3-seed Greenville University in the opening round, in its very first year as a SLIAC – as well as full NCAA III – member.
 
"To every head coach and young lady who has walked this journey with me thus far, thank you. You've made me a better coach and I can't wait to continue giving back to the soccer community tenfold," Ramos concluded. 
 
Ramos is a native of Arlington, Texas, and attended Martin High School (2011). She will officially begin her duties with The W on March 1, 2024.