Marissa Mykines Joins Spokane Sounders Coaching Staff

The Spokane Sounders is excited to announce that Marissa Mykines, one of the region’s most outstanding players, has returned to the club as a member of the Spokane Sounders coaching staff.

“I am very excited to get back into coaching and to rejoin this club,” said Mykines.”Soccer will always be my passion and getting to pass along the knowledge and the love I have for it is very rewarding.”

Mykines briefly joined the club in 2014 as a U11 coach, but has maintained an influential role in the community. She has been a trainer at the Academy of Sports Performance for the past five years working with high school athletes and has worked recently with Spokane Soccer Academy.

“We are beyond thrilled to have Marissa back with the club,” said Technical Director Abbas Faridnia. “Marissa was one of the best players to ever come from Spokane. Her soccer ability and knowledge is beyond impressive. Marissa’s expertise to teach the game while motivating and holding players accountable are attributes that set her as one of the top coaches in our area. Her first hand experiences with her mastery of teaching the game will have an impact that will be massive for our soccer community.”

A youth alum of the club, the Spokane native (Mead HS) helped lead the University of Illinois from 2008-2011, capping her collegiate career with a fantastic senior season in which she was named team Offensive MVP, All-Conference Second Team and Big Ten Tournament Offensive MVP as her side won the Big Ten tournament championship.

“Marissa was a standout youth player for the Spokane Shadow and has been one of our leaders for our WPSL team,” said Girls Director of Coaching Kevin Moon. “I am so excited to have her working with Spokane’s next generation of players. They could not ask for a more enthusiastic and knowledgeable coach!”

Most recently as a player, she was a member of the Spokane Shadow Women’s First Team, helping guide the program to the NWPL championship in its debut season in 2016, and continued to make the side one of the leaders in the WPSL Northwest Conference.

The former U18 National Team pool player also played professionally overseas in Sweden and briefly with Seattle Reign in the 2013 preseason tour in Japan as well as with Vancouver Whitecaps and Bay Area Breeze, where she was named Offensive MVP, prior to returning to her hometown.

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