Former CWU soccer player giving back to her hometown club

Kayla Gout has so many positive memories from her soccer playing days that she knew she wanted to give back to the community that shaped her love for the game.

After graduating with an accounting degree in 2022, the former Central Washington University defender started asking around about coaching opportunities in her hometown of Yakima.

One of her childhood coaches, Marty Lackey, invited Gout to shadow him as an assistant with the Central Washington Sounders (CWS), and he eventually handed her the keys to her own squad.

With one full year now under her belt, she is excited about what the future holds.

“I just love the soccer community in Yakima, and I knew I wanted to get involved at some point,” said Gout, who started 19 games for the Wildcats over two seasons. “Marty asked me if I wanted to help him out, and I just kept showing up to practices and games. But I didn’t do it thinking I would eventually have my own team. The only expectations I had were to give back to the soccer community.”

Gout completed her first full season with an under-10 girls CWS team last month, and she will lead a new roster of second and third graders in the fall. She managed to build a strong connection with her young proteges last season, and she looks forward to doing the same with a different group starting in August.

“These little girls are just amazing, and to see their growth every day has meant so much to me,” Gout said. “I can’t take full credit because they have been working really hard, but it’s been fun watching their development. Now I understand what my coaches were talking about.”

Lackey launched CWS in 2012 to give kids ages 5 to 18 an opportunity to play against top competition from around the Northwest. Over the past 14 years, CWS has helped more than 150 players find college playing opportunities, and some have even gone on to play for professional feeder programs like Seattle Sounders Academy.

Gout joined CWS in elementary school and continued playing with the club through her four years at East Valley High School. She had an offer on the table from former Wildcats coach Michael Ferrand in 2020, but she decided to take a brief detour before the pandemic altered her plans.

“I originally committed to Whitworth, but when COVID hit, I decided that I wanted to be closer to home,” she said. “So I reconnected with the CWU coaches and ended up playing there for two years. I’m really happy things worked out the way they did.”

Gout also has fond memories of playing for Ferrand’s successor, Lindsey Lee, whose relationship-focused leadership style was similar to what she experienced under Lackey.

“Lindsey was one of those coaches who just let me play my game,” she said. “And anytime I would ask her a question, she would tell me, ‘you already know the answer.’ That’s what gave me the confidence I needed to grow as a player, because it helped me realize that maybe I really do know how to play this position.”

In her new role with CWS, Gout has been surprised by how often she applies the strategies she learned as a player to her coaching routine. She took away different things from all of her coaches along the way, and together, they helped her build a solid soccer foundation that has translated well to the sidelines.

“I learned from so many great coaches who offered me different perspectives and helped me become the best player I could be,” she said. “I’m using all of the lessons I learned from each of them — things I liked and didn’t like — and putting them together to help my players grow.”

Gout still enjoys kicking the ball around, playing in a Yakima adult league and traveling to an occasional out-of-town tournament. She suffered a knee injury last year that took her out of action for a while, but she’s been slowly working her way back into form.

In fact, being involuntarily placed on the injury list is what made Gout think more about different ways she could get involved.

“I felt so empty without soccer, and that’s actually what led to me coaching this team,” she said. “I decided, ‘if I can’t play, then I need to be part of it somehow.’ Soccer is just in my blood.”

Whether she’s playing or coaching, Gout’s main goal is to grow the game in her hometown and give today’s young players an opportunity to experience what she did.

After a couple years on the job, she is fully embracing the opportunity to help mold the next generation of Yakima youth soccer standouts.

“In women’s soccer, confidence is such a huge thing,” Gout said. “And when you find a coach that can help you bring out the best side of yourself — and show you the potential that you knew you always had — that’s when you can take your game to the next level. My coaches did that for me, and I want to do that for my players, too.”