University of the Cumberlands Athletics

Antonio La Gamba is in his first season with the Patriots after being hired in July 2024. 

La Gamba, who is originally from New York, played abroad in Italy competing for Benevento Calcio (Serie A) and Reggina 1914 (Serie B) U19 Primavera academy teams. Often having the opportunity to train with the first team during his time at both prestigious Italian clubs. Following this experience he played a year in the Italian Serie D (Semi-Pro) before returning to the US to accept a full scholarship to play NCAA Division 1. During the summer of 2024, La Gamba returned to New York, where he coached Flower City 1872 of the UWS women's semi pro league. He also served as a captain and assistant coach for the Flower City Union NPSL men’s semi pro club. During the spring of 2024 La Gamba finished his USSF National C‘ Coaching License while coaching for the WNY Flash Regional ECNL club team in Rochester, NY. La Gamba also holds the highly esteemed Sports Performance Diploma through United Soccer Coaches. 

La Gamba comes to UC after a stellar playing career at the NCAA Division 1 level and USL 2 Semi-Professional level. Captaining multiple highly successful NCAA D1 programs and USL 2 clubs. La Gamba began his collegiate career at Coastal Carolina University and was part of the Chanticleers Sun Belt championship which saw them get an automatic bid to the NCAA D1 tournament where they advanced through the first few rounds of the tournament before losing in golden goal to SMU. CCU finished the season ranked in the top 20 D1 programs in the nation.  After this top level D1 experience La Gamba transferred to Siena College where he was a standout team captain and leader, he played in 45 matches and started 30 games and dished out five assists over that three-year period. During La Gamba’s stint at Siena College, the school saw unprecedented success rising from one of the bottom ranked NCAA D1 programs in the country to a top 75 D1 school. Following graduating from Siena College La Gamba transferred to Longwood University of the Big South Conference to use his last year of eligibility, where he played as a grad student during the 2023 season.  At Longwood he was the team captain, starting all 17 games and compiling one goal for the Lancers. During his time at Longwood, he led the Big South Conference in minutes and was one of the leaders in total minutes for all the NCAA D1 men’s soccer players for the 2023 campaign. Following the 2023 fall season La Gamba was asked to attend various professional team’s preseasons and invite trials in the US and abroad which included multiple USL Championship and USL 1 pro clubs before La Gamba ultimately decided to focus fully on coaching. 

La Gamba graduated from Siena College with a Bachelor degree in Business with an emphasis in Sports Marketing before attaining his MBA from Longwood University. La Gamba is currently enrolled in the M.S. in Coaching and Fitness Leadership Masters Program at the University of the Cumberlands.