PRIEST RIVER — 2008 Priest River High graduate Danielle Carey, a freshman when the Lady Spartans soccer team was officially established in 2004, was recently named head coach of the high school program.

Carey has been a sports staple in the community, having founded the Priest River Youth Sports Organization in 2019. She's served as a head youth soccer coach since then, in addition to her role as the organization's president. With a lot of the athletes she's coached formerly through PRYS now starting to come up through the high school ranks, she felt the timing was right to accept the position when offered.

"I wanted the girls to have a coach who really knows them," Carey said. "When I was in youth sports here, when we got to high school, our coach followed us and it was amazing. It was one of the best things for us as a team, to have that rapport with a coach — it helps a lot."

Carey's passion is the sport of soccer, something she doesn't want to see go away in Priest River. She's played in some capacity for all of her life, mostly playing in two seasons a year, including in an indoor league post-high school. As of late, the Priest River High girls soccer program has struggled with numbers, but numbers look good for the upcoming season. Carey's main goal? To help the student-athletes grow as both players and people alongside a solid program.

"I'm just really excited for it," Carey said. "It takes a lot of work, but I have been the soccer commissioner (at PRYS) for the last three seasons. I know what to expect, it's on a different level, but I think it's all going to work out."

The Priest River High girls soccer program is looking to shake off an 0-11-1 season in 2024 and build on past successes. The team went 7-9 in 2023, a year in which four Lady Spartans seniors eventually signed to play collegiately.