Women's Soccer
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
Maite Zabala is in her third year as an assistant coach with Boise State women's soccer. Zabala joined the Broncos in February 2015, bringing 14 years of coaching experience at the Division I level, including most recently as the associate head coach at San Francisco. She is a Boise native and graduate of Bishop Kelly High School.
A highly-decorated goalkeeper in her own right, Zabala has overseen the development of Boise State's netminders and defense. Janelle Flores has flourished into a star at goalkeeper, becoming the first Bronco goalie to earn first-team all-conference honors in program history following her 2016 junior campaign.
Zabala earned the United States Soccer Federation National A Coaching License in 2013, joining Boise State head coach Jim Thomas and fellow Bronco assistant coach Ed Moore with the lofty credentials. Zabala will work with primarily with the goalkeepers.
"The thing we wanted to add was a person who could come in and be on par from an experience and expertise standpoint," Thomas said. "We wanted to add that kind of component to the coaching staff, where we could disperse a lot more of the roles. I like the fact now that we have three `A' licensed coaches. Three coaches with the highest amount of expertise available to them who we can deploy per their strengths at any time we want."
At USF, Zabala was a member of the coaching staff for eight seasons, including the last four as the associate head coach. With the Dons, she emphasized in working with defenders and goalkeepers. The team increased its number of shutouts each of the last five seasons.
Prior to arriving at USF in 2007, Zabala was an assistant coach at her alma mater, California-Berkeley for three seasons.
Zabala was a standout goalkeeper at California from 1997-2000, earning team Most Valuable Player honors as a junior and senior. A three-time All-Pacific 10 Conference selection, she still holds the school record for career shutouts at 26.5 and was inducted into the Cal Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011.
Following her collegiate career, Zabala was a first-round pick in the Women's United Soccer Association by the Atlanta Beat. She played professionally for four seasons, spending three in the WUSA before rounding out her career with Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish Super Liga. During her offseasons, Zabala was a volunteer assistant coach at her alma mater.
