GREENSBORO, N.C. – UNCG women's soccer goalkeeper
Aiyanah Tyler-Cooper will continue her soccer career in 2022, after signing a contract with FC Málaga City Femenino in Spain.
The native of Charlottesville, Virginia is the fourth women's soccer player in the past five years to sign a contract after finishing their career at UNCG. She is following in the footsteps of former teammates Heida Ragney Vidardottir (Thor/KA), Regan Lehman (Glentoran FC), and Cienna Rideout (Sion Swifts Ladies FC).
"I am super blessed and honored to have this opportunity come," Tyler-Cooper said. "Since my freshman year, I have always talked about wanting to play overseas and if the opportunity came, I would take it."
Tyler-Cooper started in 70 games over her five-year career, playing in 73. She has climbed the UNCG record books this season as she broke the program record in career saves on October 22 against ETSU and totaled 360 stops. Tyler-Cooper's name sits tied for second in career shutouts tallying 25. She ranks fourth all-time in goalkeeper minutes played with 6,444:13 and fifth in goals against average with 1.08.
"I did have a couple of injuries throughout my five years and then coming back from the COVID season was also difficult, but my teammates pushed me during those times to make sure I rehabbed hard so I could come back for my last season," spoke Tyler-Cooper. "Fortunately, I took my fifth year to have that real last season and couldn't be more thankful for my teammates and coaches that pushed me."
Tyler-Cooper will graduate early in December earning her degree in biology with minors in Spanish and business administration. This year she was nominated for the Senior CLASS Award. She earned All-Conference second team honors as a sophomore and All-SoCon honor roll accolades as a senior. In 2017, Tyler-Cooper was named the team Rookie of the Year and Hero Sports "Hero of the Week".
"Aiyanah is ready for this opportunity and she is grateful for the chance at the pro level," said UNCG head coach
Michael Coll. "The Málaga team is getting a winner and a great teammate. Aiyanah has always faced the biggest challenges with confidence, and I have no doubt that the Spanish League is an environment that she will thrive in and be a positive influence to the Málaga team and help them reach their goals. I want to thank her for five seasons and her great career at UNCG. We are so proud of her for earning this big-time chance in the amazing soccer nation that Spain is!"
In the classroom, she saw her name on the Athletic Director's Honor Roll and Dean's List four times. She is a board member of Athletes for Activism, secretary of the Black Student-Athlete Association, a Student-Athlete Advisory Committee representative, and part of the Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity.
"We're delighted to welcome a player of Aiyanah's quality and character into our group for the remainder of the season," FC Málaga head coach Jose Herrera said. "After many conversations between our staff and Aiyanah it seemed like a perfect fit all around and we can't wait to see her flourish with our team here in Spain and work towards that all important promotion."
Tyler-Cooper plans to join the team in January for the second half of their season. FC Málaga City Femenino was founded in 2020 and is a brand new project for talented female players looking for a one of kind full-time football experience. They compete in the Spanish league system and play their games in the 5,000 capacity stadium.
"When talking to the Málaga staff, they spoke about developing the player and I thought that was important because I want to learn the game more and develop my craft, to become better and see how far I can push myself," Tyler-Cooper mentioned. "They seem like the right program for me. They also provided a lot of support for me here and checked in during the year, making it seem like they were a second family even though UNCG is a second family already. Also, my minor is Spanish and I thought it would be a good opportunity to involve myself in the culture, dive in, experience different perspectives in a different country by myself."
