Joanna Fennema

Biography

Joanna Fennema enters her second season with NC State as associate head coach in 2026 after joining head coach Gary Higgins’ staff in January 2025. During her first season in Raleigh, she helped the Wolfpack to a 5-9-4 campaign that saw the most wins in a season for the program since 2022. The team won four ACC contests, the most since 2021, while going on a a six-match unbeaten streak in league play, which tied the program record for most conference games without a loss. Before coming to NC State, Fennema spent the 2024 campaign as head coach at Lenoir Rhyne, guiding the Bears to a 13-2-5 record, including an 8-0-3 mark in South Atlantic Conference play. The team advanced to the SAC championship game and reached the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Prior to her time with the Bears, Fennema enjoyed a successful three-year tenure as assistant coach at Columbus State. She helped lead the Cougars to three NCAA Tournament appearances, including a Regional Championship in 2022 when the team entered the tournament as the number one seed. That season, Fennema was part of the United Soccer Coaches Southeast Regional Coaching Staff of the Year as the team posted a 19-3-2 record. In addition, she helped guide Columbus State to two Peach Belt regular season championships and one conference tournament title. Under her leadership, 30 players earned all-conference honors, seven were named All-Americans, five received Scholar-All American recognition, and she coached the 2022 Elite 90 aw