PHOTO COURTESY UTRGV ATHLETICS
The Athletics department announced in a Feb. 4 news release Nataki Stewart will make an appearance on the pitch this fall as the new head coach for the UTRGV Women’s Soccer Team.
According to the release, Stewart was previously the head coach at the University of St. Thomas, located in Houston, for three seasons, during which he led the team to its first 10-win season since 2018 in 2025. He also spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Stephen F. Austin State University, another Southland Conference school located at Nacogdoches, Texas.
During his time at SFA, Stewart helped the team reach the SLC Tournament finals in back-to-back seasons and get three of his players signed into professional contracts, according to the news release.
Stewart played four seasons collegiately. The first two were at San Jacinto College in the Houston area and the following at St. Thomas, where he helped take the team to its first national tournament appearance in 2013.
The coach said what drew him toward UTRGV was his familiarity with the staff and the work they put into the athletic department.
“When I look at the strong foundation that is in place, I honestly feel that the administration has done a fantastic job across all the sports,” he said. “I think the table is set for this program to get to the next phase.”
Stewart added he believes the program is “in a very good place from a cultural standpoint” and described its players as “genuinely really good kids.”
For his first year with the program, the head coach said he has many priorities, but “setting limits” is not one of them.
“I want to play in the big championship moments,” Stewart said. “But for me, to put limits on what these young people can achieve would be totally unfair. The sky is the limit for the things we can do.”
When it comes to being on the field, he said he wants his team to have a strong “defensive” identity as he said he feels “strong defense leads to creative offense.”
“That’s my mentality,” Stewart said. “If you look at last year in St. Thomas, we had nine shutouts in 17 games. That can give you a little background of how I really pride myself on defense.”
Off the field, he said he has begun reaching out to his players and creating individual development plans, mapping out their academic, athletic and personal goals, while also trying to aid in finding internships to help them advance in their fields of study.
“At some point, they’re going to stop playing,” Stewart said. “We want to make sure that, 30 or 40 years from now, they’re living the lives that they’ve always dreamt of.”
The head coach said, in his eyes, success in the program lies beyond just wins and losses.
“I want these kids to graduate from here but, also holistically, them having a fantastic student-athlete experience,” he said. “That’s what success looks like for me.”
Stewart added he also wants to elevate the program to be a “program of service” by volunteering and giving back to the community through clinics and camps.
“We want to make sure that we’re taking care of the community first,” he said. “Then, in turn, they can come out on game nights and create an atmosphere that will be a special one. When we have the community involved, it can be a very special thing.”
While the women’s soccer season still has a few months to go, Stewart invited fans to play a part in helping elevate the program.
“My message is simple: … Come on board,” he said. “Help us create a special environment for our student athletes and build a program that the [community] can be proud of. There’s something special about to happen in the [Rio Grande] Valley.”
