AS Kigali women’s club coach Grace Nyinawumuntu has been named as the head coach of the national women’s team.

Nyinawumuntu got the post after defeating Anne Mbonimpa from Kicukiro Centres and Seraphine Munyana, former coach of Les Lioness women’s football club.

Nyinawumuntu is one of the best women’s coaches that the country has and she has the pedigree after playing a key role with AS Kigali in successful victories. “Her experience is extremely valuable,” said Felecite Rwemalika, the head of women’s football in Ferwafa.

“Nyinawumuntu will be assisted by Innocent Seniga while Claude Maniraguha is the goalkeepers’ coach, ” added Rwemalika.

Nyinawumuntu takes over the job just when the national women’s team is slated to play against Kenya in thetwo-legged CAF Africa women’s championship qualifiers later this month, a task that will not be simple.

“I am very thrilled to be appointed as the national team head coach. Given the experience after working on all levels of women’s and girls’ football, I will offer my best to see the team perform to the expectations against Kenya,” said Nyinawumuntu.

The new coach has also been part of the coaching staff that led the Rwandan youth girls team to compete in the annual East Africa Secondary Schools Games in Mbarara last year.

The 31 year old coach, who started playing football at the age of 10 with boys  joined Lycee de Kigali as a player and later joined Urumuri women’s football club. She later joined Nyamirambo women’s district team in 2002.

She joined Kigali Institute of Education where she continued with the sport. However, in 2004 she sustained a serious knee injury that prompted her to quit but switched to pursuing a career as a coach and refereeing for the next three years.

Nyinawumuntu became one of the first female referees in the country when she officiated the men’s matches. She later switched to coaching when her knee failed in 2007.

The newly appointed national coach was later advised by Rwemalika to form a women’s club and that’s how AS Kigali was started. It is not the first time for her to coach the national team. In the previous years, she was the care taker as well. Her appointment comes after she earned a Licence B” training certificate from Germany after undergoing a six-month course.

The experience gained from Germany helped AS Kigali to position itself as the most successful women’s club in the country. In September last year,she was also honored by DIVA Africa Awards Limited for her responsibility in the development and promotion of women’s football in the Rwanda.