Manya Makoski
Assistant Coach
mmakoski@umd.edu
Maryland
Division 1
Assistant Coach
mmakoski@umd.edu
Maryland
Division 1
Makoski boasts a spectacular resume at the national and professional level, including playing at one time with 13 of the 23 players that made up the roster of the United States 2015 World Cup champions. Makoski has played with two FIFA World Players of the Year (Marta, Carli Lloyd), and helped the US capture the 2002 FIFA U-19 World Cup title.
The Bridgeport, Conn., native was a national team stalwart at a variety of age groups from 2002-to-2008. Makoski was a member of a pair of U-21 national teams that won back-to-back Nordic Cups in 2004 and 2005. She then won the same championship as a player on the U-23 national team in 2007 and was a member of the full national team pool in 2008.
For those youth national teams, Makoski joined up with notable US standouts such as Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe, Heather OReilly, Lauren Holiday and Amy Rodriguez.
Makoski played alongside Marta, the five-team FIFA World Player of Year, as a member of the Los Angeles Sol of Womens Professional Soccer (WPS). The Sol won the WPS Regular Season title in 2009 and advanced to the WPS Playoff finals. Other notable players on that Sol roster included Japanese World Cup Champion Ali Miyama, French international stalwart Camille Abily and World Cup champion and Olympic gold medalist Shannon Boxx.
The following season, Makoski moved on to play for the WPS Atlanta Beat, where she played alongside World Cup and Olympic champion Tobin Heath. Makoski transitioned her career to Iceland for Thor/KA in 2011 and helped lead the squad to a fourth-place league finish and the first round of the UEFA Champions League while being voted to the leagues first-half Best XI.
Makoski continued her time in Europe for Aland United in Finland and was voted Naisten Liiga Player of the Year after breaking the league record for goals. She also served as a team captain.
She moved back to the United States to play for Sky Blue FC in 2013 and guided the team to a National Womens Soccer League (NWSL) semifinal appearance. After a brief stint back with Aland United in 2014, where she played in the UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds, Makoski retired from professional soccer.
Makoski had a decorated college career at Arizona State from 2002-to-2006, including being named a Freshman All-American in 2002. Makoski also flourished in the classroom, earning NSCAA Academic All-American honors in 2004 and being named an ASU Sparky Female Scholar of the Year award recipient. Makoski graduated with bachelors degree in journalism and mass communication from Arizona State in 2006 before earning a masters degree at the University of New Haven in business administration in 2008.
As a coach, Makoski has served in various roles in clubs throughout Connecticut, including as a staff coach at USSF training centers in the state. She is also an accomplished writer, penning columns and blogging for websites including ussoccer.com, nbcolympics.com and the WPS website; womensprosoccer.com.