Chris Malenab, who has spent eight years as an assistant at the professional and international level, has returned to his alma mater and joined the Sacramento State women’s soccer program as an assistant coach in August of 2023. The 2025 campaign will be his third on the sidelines with the Hornets and his first as the team's Associate Head Coach.
“I’m extremely excited about Chris joining our women’s soccer program,” Head Coach Randy Dedini said upon Malenab's hire. “He’s an experienced coach at the highest level who has a track record of success. Chris is a great compliment to my coaching style and brings a winners mentality and mindset. Together we will continue to elevate our program and our standards.”
Malenab has helped raise the bar in Sacramento during his three seasons on the sidelines, helping lay the foundation for a program that cuminated in the program's first Big Sky Conference Tournament championship and NCAA Tournament berth in 15 years in 2024.
During his time with the Hornets, he has helped mentor 13 student-athletes to All-Big Sky honors, including two-time first-team selection Abigail Lopez, who finished her career among the top 10 in school history in goals scored, points, and shot attempts.
Since 2014, Malenab has held positions with various United Soccer League clubs, breaking into the professional ranks with the Sacramento Republic from 2014-17, helping the Indomitable Club to a 2014 USL Cup Championship, a 2016 Western Conference regular season title, and four berths in the USL playoffs.
From there, he served as an assistant at Reno 1868 FC from 2018-20, and was the first assistant with Oakland Roots FC in 2021, helping both clubs to a combined eight playoff appearances — including a pair of conference semifinal appearances and a 2020 Supporters Shield with Reno.
Since 2022, Malenab has been a coach and technical director with the California Storm of the USL W-League and Women’s Professional Soccer League, helping the club to a 2022 WPSL National Championship and a 2023 PacNorth Conference title as well as a USL Western Conference finals appearance in 2023.
Outside of his professional experience, Malenab spent time in 2023 as a video coach for the Grenada Men’s National Team for their competitions in the CONCACAF Gold Cup Preliminaries and as an assistant with Guam’s men’s and women’s national teams.
Starting his coaching career with various club and high school programs in the greater Sacramento area, Malenab’s collegiate experience includes stops as an assistant at Cosumnes River College (2004), Stanislaus State (2009-11), and San Joaquin Delta College (2012-14), as well as a season with the Sacramento Knights FC of the National Premier Soccer League, helping the club qualify for the U.S. Open Cup.
A 2004 graduate of Sacramento State who earned his degree in sociology, Malenab holds a A-Senior license from the U.S. Soccer Federation and a United Soccer Coaches Director of Coaching Diploma, among others.
