McKayla Wetsel enters her first season as the new Assistant Coach for the VMI women’s soccer program.
Wetsel was a goalkeeper at East Carolina University from 2022-25 after playing for two seasons at Idaho State in the spring of 2021 (Covid) and Fall 2021.
In 2021, she ranked in the top five percent in the NCAA in saves per game and the top 11 percent in saves for the season. As a freshman at Idaho State, her 6.33 saves per game ranked No. 3 all-time for a single season and her 95 saves that season ranked No. 5 all-time for a single season in the program’s record book.
At East Carolina, she helped the Pirates to a 2024 American Athletic Conference title and served on the team leadership council in 2025.
Since high school, Wetsel has served as a private goalkeeper coach in Utah conducting technical sessions for both field players and goalies. She coached goalie Savannah Woodbury, who is presently at Snow College in Ephraim, Utah.
While she was at East Carolina, Wetsel coached goalkeepers U8-U12 for the Pitt-Greenville Soccer Academy based in Greenville, North Carolina, where she created session plans to maximize development. Her training helped keepers focus on handling, distribution, positioning, body shape and footwork. She also developed programs to help her trainees understand goalkeeping principles, terminology and tactical awareness.
During her time as a Pirate, she also worked three summers as a camp guide at ECU soccer camps to coach youth field players and goalies the various techniques and tactics of the game.
Since September of 2025, she has served as a mentor for Athlete to Athlete, an NCAA Division I athletic mentorship program to help guide youth athletes on how to navigate college preparations and mentor high school student-athletes in one-on-one sessions how to balance their athletic, academic and social lives.
Wetsel graduated from East Carolina in May 2025 with a bachelor's degree in elementary education with an emphasis in mathematics. She went on to receive a graduate certificate in sport and coaching leadership in December 2025.
