Shadow Add GU Assistant Maddie Cooley to Staff

Tuesday, April 22, 2025

The Spokane Shadow are excited to announce that Gonzaga alum and women’s assistant coach Maddie Cooley has joined the staff as a DPL girls coach beginning with the 2025-26 season.

“I am so excited to join the Shadow coaching staff and work with players in such formative years of their soccer experience!” said Cooley. “Although I didn’t grow up in Spokane, it has felt like home for nearly a decade, and I am grateful to be able to connect with my community through the game I love. Ready to get to work – teaching, learning and growing alongside my players!”

The Mill Creek, Washington product has made Spokane her new home since joining the Zags as a freshman in 2016, playing the Zags through the spring Covid season of 2021 before graduating and later returning to join the coaching staff in 2023.

“Maddie brings an incredible depth of knowledge and passion for the game to our club and has true commitment to helping athletes reach their full potential. We are very fortunate to have her on board and know she’ll make an immediate impact on our players and the club.”

Between her Zags playing and coaching stints she spent the 2022 season as an assistant coach at Whitworth with the women’s program under Shadow GA Director Cameron Bushey.

“Maddie is a passionate, driven and caring coach – one who players love to play for,” said Bushey. “We are blessed to have her in our club and I’m excited we get to work together again.”

In addition to bringing her collegiate coaching experience to the pitch she will be able to impart her knowledge as a recent collegiate standout to players within the Shadow program.

As a player Cooley played 65 matches, starting in 29. She started every game during her junior and senior seasons as a key member of an outstanding defensive unit and was named Second Team All-West Coast Conference in the Spring of 2021. She received Academic All-Conference four times, boasting a 3.93 grade point average at graduation. She also earned her Master of Organizational Leadership degree from Gonzaga in 2021.